Lanka News – Lanka Gazette – Sri Lanka News Portal

In this fifth and final interview with Roy Dias in our segment ‘Lords at Lord’s,’ he speaks on the wonderful bond the 1998 Sri Lankan team had built up and believes that unity helped the side to overcome some tough moments. Dias also says the understanding he had with captain Arjuna Ranatunga and Manager Ranjit Fernando helped the team to reach great heights. Continue Reading

Sri Lanka made what could have been a convincing win a nervous one at the end when they surprisingly shuffled the batting order and saw three wickets fall for 16 runs before eventually wining by three wickets in the second ODI of the tri-nation series against New Zealand here at the Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium yesterday. Continue Reading

JOHANNESBURG (AP) – The Netherlands managed to grind out a 2-0 win over Denmark on Monday despite failing to live up to its billing as one of the most dangerous attacking teams at the World Cup.

The Dutch took the lead in the 46th when Denmark defender Simon Poulsen headed a ball off the back of teammate Daniel Agger and into the net. Poulsen had been trying to clear a cross from Robin van Persie.

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A haphazard changing of the draw of the Inter-school Under-15 Division I and II cricket tournaments, organised by the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association, has left the participating teams wondering whether such changes are being done deliberately to help some schools play matches of their choice.

The U-15 team of the St. Aloysius’ College, Galle were about to leave for the first match of the tournament when their officials were informed of an overnight change of the draw last week.

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Ajith Bandara, who won the national marathon for the 10th time at Wellawaya on Sunday, has the potential to reach greater heights if he is given specific event centered training, according to experts.

Experts say Bandara’s notable performance at the National Marathon at Wellawaya was a result of his shear experience rather than the result of a systematic training. "It was through shear experience that he could win it for the 10th time and could produce that time. He has greater potential. He can reach greater heights if he is given specific event centered training," says reputed athletic coach Jayantha Siyamudali.

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BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa (AP) – Keisuke Honda scored in the first half Monday to lead Japan to a 1-0 win over an uninspired Cameroon in Group E of the World Cup.

The win is Japan's first at the World Cup on foreign soil, and puts the Japanese at the top of Group E along with the Netherlands, which beat Denmark 2-0 earlier Monday.

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Sri Lanka reached 84 for two in 20 overs in the first match of the Asia Cup tournament against Pakistan here at the Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium at the time this edition went to press yesterday.

Sri Lanka elected to bat first after winning the toss and openers Tillekeratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga added 31 runs for the first wicket.

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The Bradby spirit was showcased in no uncertain terms at the First Leg of the annual rugby match between Royal and Trinity in Colombo when both teams produced rib-bruising rugby before the former prevailed by a solitary point. A Sunday newspaper reported that the aggregate score of both teams-75 points- was the highest from the perspective of the first leg of the Bradby Shield.

The game was close and went to the wire as expected with Royal collecting their 38 points through four tries, three conversions, three penalties and a drop goal. Trinity too had their moments and responded scoring 37 points which came off five tries, three conversions and two penalties. While both schools look forward to the second leg of the Bradby, happening two weeks from now in Kandy, the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association has got going with the updating of the points table and has informed the media that it would take into account only the result of the first leg of the Bradby Shield, for this purpose. Hence Royal move one place up, from being placed fifth, last week, in this exciting schools league tournament where St. Peter’s, Kingswood and S.Thomas’ are rated as the top three teams in numerical order after the eighth week of the tournament.

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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) – One fan's excitement over the Ghana-Serbia World Cup match nearly cost his father an ear.

Malaysian news agency Bernama reports that 17-year-old Mohamad Rizal kicked a ball in frustration as he watched the Sunday match on TV, shattering a window.

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CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) – Italy opened the defence of its World Cup title with a laborious 1-1 draw against Paraguay on Monday.

Paraguay took advantage of its first shot on goal to take the lead in the 39th minute. Antolin Alcaraz out jumped 36-year-old Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro and Daniele De Rossi for a header following a free kick from Aureliano Torres, and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon had no chance for a save.

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