Daily News: Sri Lanka round up (9 May 1997)

Friday 09, May 1997

Sri Lanka Sports News at-a-Glance

Compiled by Dinesh Weerawansa.

CRICKET (Home):

* Sri Lanka's 14-member team for the Pepsi Independence Cup four-nation tournament, will leave for India tomorrow night. The World champions, fresh after their last month's Singer-Akai Cup success in Sharjah, will be dreaming to win their first one day tournament in India. Sri Lanka will open their campaign with a match against Pakistan at Gwalior on Monday.

Colombo Colts right-arm fast-medium bowler Dulip Liyanage has been recalled to the Sri Lanka team. Twenty-four-year-old Liyanage earns a recall at the expense of another fast-medium bowler Ravindra Pushpakumara, who on recent tours with the national side has hardly earned a game.

World champions Sri Lanka, along with India, Pakistan and New Zealand will play in the quadrangular and the teams will play each other once in the league from tomorrow with the top two advancing to a best-of-three match final starting Chandigarh on May 24.

* The 1996/97 sara trophy division 1 segment `A' cricket champions Bloomfield will reward its players with twin tours to Durham and Malaysia shortly.

Bloomfield has been one of the top teams in the premier league since finishing joint champs with SSC in 1994-95.On the following season they finished fourth but the return of former Sri Lanka captain and ace leg spinner D.S.De Silva guided the Reid Avenue Club to win the 1996-97 division I title with a convincing lead of 32.5 points over SSC which finished runners up.

(Abroad):

* Pakistan will forget their setbacks in Sharjah last month and will launch a fresh campaign to win the Pepsi Independence trophy tournament which starts in Mohali tomorrow. Skipper Rameez Raja said a win is a must to maintain their image in world cricket and they will take this tournament very seriously.

Opening batsman Saeed Anwar, pinch hitter Shahid Afridi and former fast-medium bowler Aaqib Javed, who have been recalled after missing the recent tour of Sri Lanka, are likely to play in Friday's day/night `curtain raiser' against New Zealand in Mohali. But the Pakistanis are without experienced players like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Mushtaq Ahmed and Mohammad Akram - all of whom are contracted with English county sides.

Source :: Daily News (https://www.lanka.net)