Late City Edition

The Island, Monday 20th March, 2006

Sri Lankan (R) and wicketkeeper (C) appeal unsuccessfully for a leg before decision Razzaq’s patience brings against (L) yesterday. Razzaq went on to score an unbeaten 41 runs to carry to a 4-wicket win in the 45th over of the innings. Razzaq later won the Man of the Pakistan hard-fought win Match award. (AFP) by Revata S. Silva A patient unbeaten knock by 26-year- It was not a good pitch for One-dayers – Inzy old Pakistani No.7 bat Abdul Razzaq (41 n.o. in 101 balls), who came in at a total of Pakistan skipper Inzamam- day’s one, Pakistani stalwart On the regular 47-5 as they chased 131 to win, helped give ul-Haq said, after yesterday’s added it was good for his side. skipper ’s Pakistan an encouraging 4-wicket win in match, that the R. Premadasa “A couple of additional rest injury, Moody said he their second One-dayer against Sri Lanka wicket was not good for One- days are good because of the (Atapattu) has aggravated his at R. Premadasa International dayers. Only 264 runs were heat we experience here,” he long back injury and Stadium yesterday. scored for 16 yesterday added. would be out of the forthcoming In a low scoring game played on a and looked precariously Atapattu injury – Test series against Pakistan as weary, awkward pitch where batting difficult with ball producing Meanwhile Sri Lanka coach well. looked ‘the world’s most difficult task’, inconsistent bounce. No bats- said his team was “He has (spinal) disk prob- Sri Lanka, after being put in first by man from either side was able short of at least about 30 runs lem which has a long history. It Pakistan, struggled right through their to go pass at least fifty runs. yesterday to finish the match on has aggravated probably due to innings before finally folding up at 130 in “It was not good for One-day- a winning note. the hard schedule he had in the 44.2 overs. ers. The ball came very low all “There is no excuse (though) recent past... The positives fac- Pakistan, in their reply, experienced the time,” Inzamam added. for us. Because a few of our top tor we can get from this situa- the same misery, not being able to hit at Being asked about the seniors are rested (due to tion is that we can expose our least a single boundary between the over rescheduling of the present injuries), a lot of responsibility youngsters at the top level. Nos. 13 to 41 in their innings, before tour with two reserve days was shouldered by the new or Anyway, we have to do it one Razzaq’s perseverance saw them home being added after the last two inexperienced players in the day and it’s good that we can do with 5.2 overs to spare putting them one One-dayer, including yester- team,” Moody further added. it now,” he added. RSS up in the three-match series. The first match was washed off on Friday (17) at Sri Lankan the same venue after Pakistan, batting innings went in dis- first, scraped through to 201-8 in fifty array from the early overs. stages as they lost What was usually known to be a bat- seven for 56 by the ting paradise, Khettarama –as this venue 21st over. It was is better known— was a lacklustre scene Tillakaratne Dilshan who brought some innings with two timely stands, 42 for the yesterday with an attendance of a rela- respectability to their total. Dilshan made eighth wicket with Kulasekara (11 in 46) tively poor crowd, that too comprised an unbeaten 48 in 106 balls with three and 25 for the ninth with Malinga (15 in largely of Pakistani supporters who hard earned boundaries and steadied the 24). waved green flags. There were only fifteen fours hit in the entire match with bats- SCOREBOARD men finding a tough life in the middle Sri Lanka c Jayawardene b Kulasekara 17 having to be on the defensive all the while. U. Tharanga lbw b Razzaq 19 out 4 Sri Lanka pace bowlers, Lasith C. Kapugedara c Yousuf b Naved 1 Inzamam-ul-Haq lbw b Malinga 1 Malinga (2-22), and K. Sangakkara lbw b Asif 1 Mohammad Yousuf lbw b Lokuarachchi 26 , made early inroads M. Jayawardene c Akmal b Naved 0 Abdul Razzaq 41 to the Pakistani middle-order batting, tak- R. Arnold b Ifthikar 16 not out 20 ing wickets in tandem since hard-hitting T. Dilshan not out 48 Extras (w15, nb4) 19 rocketed a miscued drive Farveez Maharoof c Afridi b Ifthikar 2 Total (for six wickets in 44.4 overs) 134 offering ’keeper Kumar Sangakkara a K. Lokuarachchi c Akmal b Razzaq 1 Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-15, 3-34, 4-39, 5-47, 6- dolly. N. Kulasekara lbw b Afridi 11 82 Wickets tumbled while runs withered L. Malinga lbw b Afridi 15 : Malinga 9-1-22-2, Maharoof 8-1-24- M. Muralitharan b Naved 2 1, Kulasekara 9.4-1-43-1, Muralitharan 10-1- reducing the visitors to 47-5 before Razzaq Extras (lb8, w3, nb3) 14 22-0, Lokuarachchi 6-1-16-1, Dilshan 2-0-7-0 shared, firstly,35 for the sixth wicket with Total (all out in 44.2 overs) 130 : Pakistan win by four wickets Mohammed Yousuf (26 in 60) and then a Fall of wickets: 1-3, 2-7, 3-16, 4-39, 5-43, 6- Man of the match: Abdul Razzaq (PAK) match winning and unfinished 52 for the 51, 7-56, 8-98, 9-123 Toss: Pakistan seventh with Kamran Akmal (20 in 30 Bowling: Rana Naved 6.2-0-23-3, Asif 8-4-22- Umpires: Steve Davis (AUS) and Tyronne balls). Razzaq fought for each run till they 1, Ifthikar 7-2-13-2, Razzaq 6-1-19-2, Afridi 10- Wijewardene (SRI) pass the 100-mark and then finished off 0-28-2, Malik 7-0-17-0 TV umpire: Peter Manuel (SRI) Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan (L) and (R) react after unseen wicketkeeper Kumar his job, which took almost two hours in Pakistan Match Referee: Alan Hurst (AUS) the middle, in style hitting two successive Sangakkara dropped a catch during the second One-day International at R. Premadasa Stadium yes- c Sangakkara b Maharoof 4 Next match: In Colombo on March 22 fours and a six against Kulasekara in the terday (19). Dilshan (48 n.o.) and Tharanga (19) were the top scorers for the home team in yesterday’s Shahid Afridi c Sangakkara b Malinga 2 (Wednesday) 45th over of the innings. low scoring game which was played on a weary wicket. AFP / Sanka Vidanagama

Commonwealth Games - 2006 Fisichella leads Hoggard jolts with Super mum McCann sets alight Renault one-two MELBOURNE, March 19, 2006 (AFP) - last few kilometres as they exchanged the a twin strike Giancarlo Fisichella led from the front to earn his ’s Kerryn McCann retained her lead several times. Swing bowler Matthew Hoggard more runs before falling to a brilliant first Grand Prix win in a year to beat Renault team- women’s “The crowd just lifted me,” said an emo- grabbed two early wickets to put India one-handed catch by Dravid at lone slip mate Fernando Alonso into second in Malaysia, title in scintillating style here, tional McCann, who spent two-and-a-half under pressure in the third and final Test off Harbhajan. (AFP) BBC Sport reported, Sunday. in a sprint to the line amid roars from a weeks away from her children in a pre- against here on Sunday. The Italian held off Alonso’s mid-race charge at SCOREBOARD packed, partisan Melbourne Cricket Games training camp “to rest”. Hoggard dismissed openers Virender the Sepang circuit to secure his third career win. England 1st innings (overnight 272-3) Ground. “She (Koskei) kept coming back, either Sehwag and Wasim Jaffer in the space of Samson Ramadhani gave Tanzania side of me. I’ve never been in a race that Briton Jenson Button rarely threatened the A. Strauss c Dhoni b Harbhajan 128 three fiery overs before India reached 89- I. Bell c Harbhajan b Sreesanth 18 their second successive Games men’s close.” Koskei had benefited enormously Renaults but came home third for his first podium 3 at stumps on the second day in reply to O. Shah c Dravid b Harbhajan 88 marathon title, recording a comfortable from letting the Australian set the pace for finish of the season, ahead of McLaren’s Juan Pablo England's first-innings total of 400. K. Pietersen c Dhoni b Sreesanth 39 victory after taking the lead in the last the majority of the second half of the race Montoya. England were bowled out half-an-hour P. Collingwood c Dhoni b Sreesanth 31 kilometre. With athletics returning to the and looked fresher as they approached the Ferrari’s Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher before tea after resuming on 272-3, with A. Flintoff c Tendulkar b Kumble 50 state-of-the-art MCG stadium for the first end of the race. were fifth and sixth. debutant Owais Shah scoring an impres- G. Jones c Kumble b Sreesanth 1 time since the 1956 Olympics, it was fitting But McCann dug deep and although she Massa was very impressive in using a one-stop sive 88 and stand-in captain Andrew S. Udal lbw b Patel 9 that an Australian took the first gold in was behind going into the stadium she strategy to move up from 19th on the grid. Flintoff 50 -- his third successive half-cen- M. Hoggard b Patel 0 front of 76,500 expectant spectators. quickly resumed the lead before coming tury. J. Anderson c Yuvraj b Harbhajan 15 M. Panesar not out 3 McCann, a 38-year-old mother of two, home clear of the 22-year-old Kenyan to India then found the pace and bounce Extras (b5, lb7, nb3, w3) 18 fought out an extraordinary duel with win by two seconds in a time of 2hr 30min of the new-ball bowlers too hot to handle ’s Helen Cherono Koskei over the 54sec. St. Sylvester’s 197 Total (All out in 133.4 overs) 400 as Jaffer (11), Sehwag (six) and Sachin Fall of wickets: 1-52, 2-230, 3-242, 4-326, 5- against Vidyartha Tendulkar (one) fell in quick succession 328, 6-333, 7-356, 8-356, 9-385 to leave their team wobbling on 28-3. Bowling: Pathan 17-4-64-0, Sreesanth 22-5- close in on series win by Rukshan Razak – Kandy Sports Corr. Skipper (37 not out) and 70-4, Patel 29-4-81-2, Kumble 39-7-84-1, St. Sylvester’s College, Kandy were all out for Yuvraj Singh (32 not out) steadied the Harbhajan 26.4-4-89-3 WELLINGTON, March 19, 2006 (AFP) all out in their first innings early in the 197, though they were fancied to pile up a healthier innings with an unfinished 61-run stand India 1st innings W. Jaffer c Jones b Hoggard 11 - New Zealand tightened their grip on day for 372 in reply to the West Indies’ total earlier, over their arch-rivals Vidyartha in the for the fourth wicket. V. Sehwag c Shah b Hoggard 6 the second cricket Test against the West 192. Hoggard, who bagged seven wickets in 48th ‘Battle of the Babes’ that began at the Asgiriya R. Dravid not out 37 Indies here Sunday, ripping through the But even Gayle succumbed to a lack International Stadium in Kandy yesterday. Play the drawn opening Test at Nagpur, again of concentration in the second to last haunted India when he had the hard-hit- S. Tendulkar c Jones b Anderson 1 top order to leave the tourists at 118 for resumes at 9.45 a.m. today. Y. Singh not out 32 over before tea, when he attempted to ting Sehwag caught by Shah at first slip four in their second innings at the end of Chief Scores: Extras (nb2) 2 sweep out of the ground off a rising . the third day here Sunday. St. Sylvester’s - 197 all out in 76.3 overs Total (for three wickets in 37 overs) 89 but was instead trapped plumb in front Hoggard's extra bounce also led to Again the out-of-form sur- (Rajitha Wickramarchchi 14, Ravi Karunaratne 24, Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-24, 3-28. to be dismissed for 68. Jaffer's dismissal, caught down the leg- rendered his wicket cheaply, and the Chanka Ranaweera 56, Shanaz Najurdeen 15, Bowling: Hoggard 10-3-16-2, Flintoff 10-4-13- Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who was side by wicket-keeper Geraint Jon a lot in 0, Anderson 6-3-15-1, Panesar 7-2-18-0, Udal struggling West Indies still require a Dananjaya Karunaratne 29, Mohamed Feshal 13, dropped by at first slip coming days and batting will be tough in 4-0-27-0. further 62 runs to make New Zealand Yasira Chamara 21 n.o., Asiri Karunaratne 2-60, when on five, was unbeaten on 13, with the second innings. But we have to get the Toss: India bat again. Dilina Kaushalya 2-14, Eranga Gangoda 2-56, Nadun Umpires: Darrell Hair (AUS) and Simon Taufel Dwayne Bravo on two when play was opposition out first." Only showed the deter- Basnayake 3-42) (AUS) halted because of bad light three overs Shah, who retired hurt Saturday on 50 mination required to turn the Test into Vidyartha - 31 for 1 wkt. in 17 overs (Dilan due to cramps in his hands, added 38 TV umpire: K. Hariharan (IND) an even contest, after New Zealand were after tea. Senanayake 12 n.o., Maduka Wijesekara 19). Match referee: (SRI)

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