Friday 24th April, 2009 Roy-Tho heralds in 2009 rugby season by Ravi Nagahawatte Royal and S. Thomas’ will herald in the 2009 schools rugby season today, with the fixture expected to generate a lot of interest in terms of how the two schools will cope with the new rules introduced to rugby union by the IRB. The match this year will be of significance for both schools for two reasons. The prime rea- son why the match comes under the spotlight is because it marks the first occasion that Royal and S. Thomas’ scrum down in their annual rugby fixture at Mount Lavinia. The other is that these two teams will experience playing the game in keeping with the new rules intro- Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi reacts after receiving the man of the match award in the duced to rugby. first one day international cricket match played between Pakistan and Australia, in According to the President, Society of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, April 22, 2009. (AP) Rugby Referees in Sri Lanka (SRRSL) Dilroy Fernando, the new rules in rugby union allow teams to wheel the scrum 90 degrees and shove their opponents sans restrictions, regarding distance, when engaged in a scrum. Fernando said that school rugby matches this season will be played in keeping with rules applicable to Under-20 rugby. “Another signifi- Afridi’s cant change is that each half will comprise 40 minutes of playing time. Also, the non partici- pating players from both sides need to maintain a distance of five metres from a scrum,” explained Fernando, who is expected to offici- ate in today’s match which is played for the mesmerising Michael Guneratne Trophy. S. Thomas’ coach Jivan Gunatilake opined that the new rules would help the players when making a transition from school rugby to club Pakistan’s Umer Gul (left) and Misbah (40) add 54 for the second wicket but rugby. “As you know, there wasn’t a go between Ul Haq react after beating Australia by once the spinners came, wickets fell where rules were concerned for schools and feat floors like nine pins. Australia lost Haddin clubs. The new rules will certainly favour the 4 wickets with 35 balls remaining dur- and Watson - both falling to Afridi in forwards game, especially during scrum time. ing their first one day international quick succession - and the innings These changes were long overdue. The old rules cricket match, in Dubai, United Arab derailed. stifled the game of most schoolboys,” said Emirates, Wednesday, April 22, 2009. Afridi broke the stand when he Gunatileke, an old boy of S. Thomas’ and a for- bowled Haddin in his fourth over and mer Sri Lanka youth rugby captain, who led Sri (AP Photo/Andrew Parsons) then never looked back. Haddin hit Australia Lanka to its only World Cup in the rugby union. three fours and a six off 52-balls. Royal College assistant coach Bilal Yusuf Watson looked dangerous during commenting on the new rules said, “the new DUBAI: Shahid Afridi exposed his 47-ball knock and hit two bound- Australia’s frailties against spin to SCORECARD aries and a six off Afridi before the rules will certainly favour a team like Royal help Pakistan rout their opponents leg-spinner bowled him with a sharp College because it has a strong pack. We are for 168 in the first day-night interna- Australia Y. Khan c Bracken b Hopes 11 one that spun across the bat. looking at dominating forwards play this sea- tional at the Dubai Stadium here on S. Marsh run out 16 S. Malik c Haddin b Hopes 24 In between Ajmal had Australian son. As for the new rules stretching each ses- Wednesday. B. Haddin c Y. Khan b Afridi 40 Misbah-ul-Haq not out 30 captain Michael Clarke caught sion to 40 minutes, this could see teams pos- Leg-spinner Afridi took a career- S. Watson b Afridi 40 S. Afridi c Bracken b Hilfenhaus 24 behind for four. sessing fitness and stamina prevailing over best 6-38 and was ably supported by M. Clarke c Akmal b Ajmal 4 N. Jamshed b Symonds 9 Andrew Symonds, who returned others. Royal is up to that too.” off-spinner Saeed Ajmal (2-19) as the A. Symonds c Akmal b Afridi 2 U. Gul not out 8 to the squad after playing his last Gunatileke said that elaborate arrange- duo triggered a middle-order collapse C. Ferguson c Misbah-ul-Haq b Afridi 2 Extras: (lb 5, w 1, nb 6) 12 one-day in July last year, became ments had been made to host this year’s rugby after Australia won the toss and elect- J. Hopes not out 48 Total: (6 wickets; 44.1 overs) 171 Afridi’s third wicket with a googly fixture between the two schools. ed to bat. N. Hauritz b Saeed Ajmal 1 Did not bat: S. Akhtar, I. Anjum, S. Ajmal which caught the edge and was Teams: S. Thomas’ from: Amrith Anrado, Australia were sailing merrily at Fall of wickets: smartly snapped up by wicket-keeper 95-1 in the 19th over before losing N. Bracken b Shahid Afridi 1 1-5, 2-33, 3-81, 4-99, 5- Anjula de Silva, Roshenka Kodithuwakku, eight wickets for 27 runs as their S. Clark b Shahid Afridi 2 138, 6-152. Kamran Akmal. Symonds made just Janit Jayasuriya, Sandeep Jayawardene, Asela batsmen crumbled on the newly-built B. Hilfenhaus b Umar Gul 4 Bowling: Bracken 9.1-2-25-0, two. Kohana, Jeewaka Hewawitharana, Rajindra Dubai Stadium pitch to the bowling Extras: (lb 1, w 7) 8 Hilfenhaus 10-3-42-2 (2nb, 1w), Hopes Afridi further dealt three blows Gunasekere, Asitha Wijesinghe, Shavin attack of Afridi and Ajmal. Total: (all out; 38.5 overs) 168 8-1-22-2, Clark 8-1-32-1, Hauritz 6-0- by dismissing Callum Ferguson Kapuwatte (Captain), Arjun Manoharan, James Hopes, who top-scored with Fall of wickets:1-41, 2-95, 3-100, 4- 27-0, Symonds 3-0-18-1. (two), Nathan Bracken (one) and William Rudra, Anurudhdha Wilwara, 48 not out, added 46 for the last wick- 107, 5-108, 6-109, 7-110, 8-118, 9- Toss: Australia, chose to bat first. Stuart Clarke (two) to improve his Sudharshan Muthuthantri, Jeremy Fernando et - a record against Pakistan in one- 122, 10-168. Series: Pakistan lead the 5-match series previous best one-day figures of 5-11 Royal from: Nikila Senanayake, Udara de dayers - with Ben Hilfenhaus (four) to Bowling: Gul 9.5-0-48-1 (1w), Akhtar 6- 1-0 against Kenya at Birmingham in Silva, Asela Dassanayake, Ranga Perera, give some respectability to the total. 0-35-0 (2w), Anjum 2-0-18- 0, Afridi 10- Player of the match: Shahid Afridi (Pak) 2004. Hopes hit five fours and a six Shehan Pathirana, Chilanka Sudaraka, Asitha during his 46-ball knock. (The News) Australia had raced to 41 as open- 0-38-6 (3w), Ajmal 10 -1 19-2, Malik 1- Umpires: B. Bowden (NZ), N. Ghauri Bandaranayake, Hamza Hassen, Akil Satuk, ers Shaun Marsh (16) and Brad 0-9- 0 . (Pak) Naren Dhason (Captain), Ranithra Haddin easily negotiated the pace of Forthcoming matches: April 24 Pakistan TV umpire: Asad Rauf (Pak) Chandraratne, Shamil Ahmed, Duminda Gul and Shoaib Akhtar before Marsh Match referee: 2nd ODI, Dubai; April 27 3rd ODI, S. Butt lbw b Hilfenhaus 5 J. Crowe (NZ) Attygalle, Chamara Dabare, Shabir Mohamed. was run out. K. Akmal c Haddin b Clark 48 Reserve umpire: Z. Haider (Pak) Abu Dhabi; May 1 4th ODI, Abu Shane Watson (40) helped Haddin Dhabi; May 3 5th ODI, Abu Dhabi. Referee - Dilroy Fernando Pakistan to play three Amal International Tests in Sri Lanka IPL ratings drop after thrash Mahanama Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) confirmed yesterday Amal International School, Wellawatte that it will host Pakistan for a three match Test thrashed Mahanama College, Colombo in an series followed by a five match ODI series that overseas shift under-17 Colombo South Zone basketball starts on the 27th of June. The series will take NEW DELHI (AP) - The Indian although no official statistics have reported sports portal encounter played at Wellawatte yesterday winning place soon after the ICC T-20 World Cup in Premier League is struggling to match been released. cricketnext.com, quoting audience fig- by a huge 74 points. After leading 60-26 at half- England and run for 45 days. the immense interest of last year’s “The start hasn’t been as bright as ures from aMAP research agency. time, Amal International went onto record a high scoring 123-49 win in a preliminary round match. Soon after the series against Pakistan, Sri inaugural season after organizers last year’s, but media watchers say “Even though larger numbers of For the winners Mohammad Rizan with 44 Lanka will host New Zealand in a Test and ODI were forced to shift the 37-day IPL’s second season still promises to viewers watched the first two match- points and Mohammad Fazal with 40 points did series. Twenty20 tournament to South be a big hit on TV,” reported The es, curiosity did not sustain as much most of the scoring while Abdul Salam chipped in A media release by SLC also stated that the Africa. Times of India newspaper. as last year,” aMap chief executive with 16 points. Chairman of the Board D.S. de Silva during the The inaugural IPL’s TV rating The Times, quoting audience Amit Verma was quoted as saying.