Havelocks won’t have it easy
S M Jiffrey ABDEEN- Kandy Sports Correspondent
It should be a nerve tingling affair when the defending champions
Kandy Sports Club takes on the challengers Havelocks Sports Club in the
final match of the Caltex League rugby tournament to be played at
Nittawela tomorrow with the kick off at 4.30 p.m.
This clash will be vital for both Kandy and the Havelocks and both
teams will go all out to win and have a crack at the league title. But
Kandy Sport Club with 40 points to their credit are lying on top of the
table of points, having won 7 of the nine games, they played this
season.
They lost only to Navy Sports Club at Welisara two weeks ago in a
match they could have won, had they put more aggression to their play
especially in the first half. They did well to close the gap in the
final stages of the match after trailing behind 8-20 at one stage before
going down gallantly 24-28.
Havelocks Sports Club infused with foreigners have turned around
remarkably this season to defeat more formidable sides and till two
weeks ago appeared to be one of the main contenders for rugby’s
prestigious title before they lost to Navy last week by the big margin
of 19-35. With this defeat the park Club slid from the top of the table
to third spot with 34 points.
With a six point gap between the two clubs, the Havies have only an
outside chance of winning the league title. First they must defeat Kandy
by a big margin to earn the bonus point awarded for scoring more than
four tries.
At the same they should stop from scoring more than four tries which
will bring them a bonus point. This is not all Navy Sports Club who are
enjoying one of their finest seasons lying second with 36 points should
lose their last game CR & FC. All these are highly improbable and as
matters stand the League title should go to either Nittawela or Welisara.
Kandy Sports Club led by Senaka Bandara despite losing many of their
key players for various reasons have done well to win seven games and
dropped points only against Navy SC. They defeated CH & FC by the huge
margin of 44-19 but the six points earned by them in this match has been
withheld by the SLRFU following an Enjoining Order obtained by Navy for
playing Nuwan Hettiarachchi who earlier played for the Sailors.
The fate of this six points is still not known and if this is awarded
to Kandy, then nothing could stop the hill capital club from winning the
title even if they lose their last match.
The Kandy team is plagued with injuries as their skipper Buddhika
Talagampola is still on the list, so is that brilliant No. 8 Sean
Wijesinghe. Flanker Arvinda Udanagamuwa too will not take the field.
Saliya Kumara and Keith Gurusinghe are undergoing a ban. Sheriff and
Dillip Selvam have left the club and so is Eranga Swarnatillake. But
still the Kandy Club have displayed the Kandyan grit to win their
matches.
In fly half Fazil Marija, Kandy have a brilliant player who could
change the course of the game with his judicious kicking and blistering
runs with an eye on the gaps which has often ended in tries.
Place kicking has become a cause of worry for Kandy as kicks as goal
from kickable distance has been often fluffed, thus losing valuable
points. This is very vital in a close game and Kandy cannot be
complacent about it. Senior players should make a better contribution to
the side than what they have done so far this season.
Havelocks Sports Club will be led by former Trinity College and Kandy
Sports Club ruggerite forward Kavinda Jayasena, son of famous Sri Lanka
winger late George Jayasena. The club after several seasons of dismal
performances are once again on the trail of success having won six of
their 9 games. But they have lost 3 games.
KANDY SC: Kishore Jehan, Achala Perera, Kasun Yasaisuru, Senaka
Bandara (captain), Dinesh Sanjeewa, Kasun de Silva, Asitha Ratnayake,
Sajith Saranga, Roshan Weeraratne and Fazil Marija, Dinesh Kumara or
Sanjeeva Jayasinghe, Pradeep Liyanage, Gayan Weeraratne, Mohamed Jabbar,
Tharindu Chanaka.
HAVELOCKS: Desmond Wilson, Roshan Fonseka, Dushmantha Priyadarshana,
Kavinda Jayasena (captain), Duminda de Silva, Asela Dissanayake, Dhiren
Warnakulasuriya, Angsta Sae, Amjad Buksh and Pushpakumara Perera,
Chamara Vithanage, Anuruddha Wilwara, Paula Talaka, Isuru Shantha,
Sajith Bandara.
India first innings 224
ENGLAND FIRST INNINGS
A. Strauss b Mishra 87
A. Cook not out 266
I. Bell b Kumar 34
K. Pietersen lbw b Kumar 63
E. Morgan c Sehwag b Raina 104
R. Bopara lbw b Mishra 7
M. Prior c Tendulkar b Mishra 5
T. Bresnan not out 19
Extras (lb-34, b-11, nb-15, w-1) 61
TOTAL (six wickets, 177 overs) 646
Fall of wickets: 1-186 2-252 3-374 4-596 5-605 6-613
To bat: S. Broad, G. Swann, J. Anderson.
Bowling: Praveen Kumar 39-13-92-2, Sreesanth
31-4-129-0 (4nb), Ishant Sharma 32-7-130-0 (1w), Mishra
43-2-150-3 (9nb), Raina 28-1-83-1, Tendulkar 4-0-17-0. |