• Singer Triangular Series Final
  Sri Lanka go out favourites
• Who will drive the KIA?
• Terbrugge sends Pakistan crashing
• Kandy look for revenge over Army

The undefeated Sri Lankans will confront South Africa in the Singer Triangular Series day/ night final at the R.Premadasa International Stadium today.

The high riding Lankans, led by the in form opener Sanath Jayasuriya, leading the side for the 28th time, are tipped to go out favourites in this game. They defeated both Pakistan and South Africa twice, in the first round, convincingly.

Sri Lanka is likely to make one change from the side which beat the Proteas at the SSC grounds on Tuesday. Left arm opening bowler Chaminda Vaas, who was rested, will be brought in for Pramodaya Wickremasinghe, who was expensive while claiming the wicket of Lance Klusener.

Opener Avishka Gunawardena must continue his good form if they are to win this tourney. Skipper Jayasuriya too will have to pull up his socks and play a key role both with the bat and the ball. Jayasuriya has so far played 27 ODIs as captain and has won 16 of them. He has scored eight centuries overall, two after being appointed captain.

The Sri Lankan spinners should have the upperhand in this match, if the wicket is a slow one.

The Proteas are likely to retain the same side which defeated Pakistan on Wednesday. Young David Terbrugge will be the cynosure of all eyes. He has shown lots of promise even though he has played in only two matches. But the Premadasa Stadium has always favoured spinners and one has to be very accurate if he is a seam bowler.

By and large the Proteas are a well balanced side which could turn tables on the Sri Lankans. Their top order is in great form, especially Jacques Kallis who is well in line for the man of the series award.

Jayasuriya has led the Lankans on five occasions in one day tournaments at home and abroad. He was successful in winning three but lost two. They defeated Pakistan and Zimbabwe on their home soil while defeating the Australians in the "Aiwa" Cup final played at the same venue in 1999/2000 series.

•The teams will be picked from:

• SRI LANKA- Sanath Jayasuriya (Capt.), Marvan Atapattu(VC), Avishka Gunawardena, Mahela Jayawardena, Russel Arnold, Kumar Sangakkara (Wk), Kumar Darmasena, Upul Chandana, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Zoyza, Muttiah Muralitharan, Pramodaya Wickremasinghe, Eric Upashantha, T. M. Dilshan.

• SOUTH AFRICA- Shaun Pollock(Capt.), Mark Boucher(VC-Wk), Gary Kirsten, Andrew Hall, Jacques Kallis, Darryll Cullinan, Jonty Rhodes, Lance Klusener, Niki Boje, David Terbrugge, Nanty Hayward, Makhaya Ntini, Paul Adams, Roger Telemarchus, Boeta Dippenar.

Who will drive the KIA?
by R. L. Fernando

The custodians of the two coveted prizes the Singer Cup (for the champions) and the KIA vehicle (Sephia or Shuma) for the Player of the Tournament will be decided today at the R. Premadasa International Stadium when Sri Lanka takes on South Africa in the final of the Triangular Tournament in a day and night game. Pakistan was the other team in the fray but blasted their chances of fighting for a place in the final by losing badly to South Africa in their last first round match at the SSC Grounds on Wednesday.

Each team has played four matches and Sri Lanka find themselves on top of the points table with eight points after winning all their first round matches, while South Africa are with four points following their two wins against Pakistan. But they lost their two matches to Sri Lanka.

The outcome of today’s result will depend heavily on the type of wicket provided for the match. Throughout this tournament the wickets provided have been on the slow side. It will be interesting to see how the match will go if a wicket suitable to both batsmen and bowlers is made available. As everyone knows, cricket is a game of uncertainty and fluctuating fortunes. But let us all hope for an interesting battle which cricket fans could view in person at the grounds and also on TV and also those who would listen over radios.

So far, several players have performed well with the bat, ball or gloves and will vie for that coveted KIA vehicle.

Let’s also hope that the adjudicat will do an impartial job.

Players vying for the prize:
Sri Lanka - Nuwan Zoysa 5 wkts. - Sanath Jayasuriya 65 runs and 3 wkts. - Marvan Atapattu 131 runs - Mahela Jayawardene 77 runs, Kumar Sangakkara 155 runs and 3 victims - Russel Arnold 82 runs - Avishka Gunawardena, 161 runs and Upul Chandana 6 wkts.

South Africa - Jacques Kallis 207 runs and 6 wkts, Gary Kirsten 157 runs - Andrew Hall 155 runs - Mark Boucher 11 victims - Lance Klusener 3 wkts. - Nicky Boje 4 wkts. - Shaun Pollock 4 wkts and David Terbrugge 4 wkts.

The Pakistan players who performed well were Inzamam -Ul - Haq 130 runs - Imran Nazir 80 runs, and Younis Khan 59 runs.

Terbrugge sends Pakistan crashing
by Revatha S. Silva

David Terbrugge, the young right arm seamer from Gauteng Province, playing in only his second ODI, dashed all hopes of Pakistan entering the final when he piloted South Africa to a seven wicket win, with 12.3 overs to spare, in their last league match of the Singer Triangular series at the SSC grounds on Wednesday. This encounter became a virtual semi-final as the winner of this game would meet Sri Lanka in the final on Friday at R. Premadasa Stadium.

Pakistan were all out for a paltry 153 in 44.1 overs and South Africa reached the target losing only three wickets.

Moin Khan won the toss and elected to bat, but he agreed in a post-match interview that it was a bad decision and the toss was a good one to lose. Moin’s decision proved disastrous in the very first over when Shaun Pollock sent Imran Nazir back to the pavilion with the 3rd ball of the match. Wickets started to tumble when Terbrugge got the ball. He made a mockery of the Pakistan middle order by taking the wickets of Younis Khan (3), Inzamam (0), Youhana (2) and Razzaq (1) in his first four overs.

The score then read 19 for six and many feared Pakistan would be all out for their lowest ever total, the previous one being 45 against West Indies in 1992-93. Before that Pollock, playing in his 104th match, bowled Saeed Anwar out to become the second South African to take 150 ODI wickets. Alan Donald, the only bowler to achieve this feat has 206 wickets in 121 ODI matches. Moin Khan who came in at number eight showed some aggression before offering wicketkeeper Mark Boucher his fifth catch when on 19. Moin hoisted a massive six off Terbrugge over long on in his 18-ball stay.

Azar Mahmood, who was dropped at one by Pollock at second slip, showed some resilience in his 100 minute stay at the wicket building a 41 run stand with 18-year-old Shoaib Malik. Mahmood’s 36, the highest score for Pakistan included 5 fours and a six off Kluesener. Pakistan’s innings highlight was the 10th wicket partnership between Malik and Mushtaq Ahmed. The two of them with a valuable alliance of 55 runs saw Pakistan reach 100 in the 32nd over and 150 in the 43rd over. Ahmed was not out on 34.

The issue of controversial umpiring decisions surfaced again as TV replays showed Inzamam’s bat not coming in contact with the ball and yet he had been given out caught behind. But the Pakistanis’ defeat was not due to poor umpiring but their own poor approach to the game and their bad selection of shots. Terbrugge had a 4-wicket haul for just 20 runs. Pollock and Paul Adams, who appeared on this tour for the first time took two wickets a piece.

The mediocre target of 154 was reached by South Africa in a slow but steady manner in 37.3 overs. Gary Kirsten who started the innings hitting a four off Mahmood in the first ever build up a stand of 56 with Jacques Kallis, after Andrew Hall edged a catch to Inzamam at slips off Mahmood. Kirsten missed his half a ton by 4 runs giving a simple catch to slips off Mushtaq. He faced 63 balls and hit eight fours. Kallis who scored 27 top edged Malik’s off spin delivery and by that time South African’s win was inevitable. Daryll Cullinan and Jonty Rhodes saw them achieve the victory target and the former remained on 35 after playing a patient knock.

The South Africans’ negative approach towards spin attack was quite evident and Pakistan badly missed Waqar and Wasim in protecting their small total.

This will indeed be a major problem when South Africa meet Sri Lanka at Khettarama with three or four classy spinners.

Kandy look for revenge over Army
by Mike Andree

Table leaders CH&FC will be in Welisara today as hosts of Navy as the second weekend of the ‘Caltex’ League Rugby second round swings into action.

Anything can happen today as the sailors are an unpredictable lot and if they have learnt from their past mistakes they are bound to give their guests a really hot time.

Tomorrow, last season’s runners-up CR&FC play host to Police at Longden Place.

Sometihng seems to have gone wrong somewhere for the law enforcers. They did not play to their full potential against defending Champion Kandy SC last weeken d and one wonders whether the long lay off had caused them to lose their enthusiasm.

CR&FC have a lot of ground to make up on the table leaders if they are to realize their dream of taking this year’s title. They almost paid the price for taking Navy lightly last weekend and they cannot afford to continue doing that especially with a team like Police.

On Sunday defending Champions Kandy SC host Army at Nittewela and will be all out to avenge their first round defeat. The soldiers have improved by leaps and bounds and they can be expected to continue their good work of playing fast open and clean rugby. The Kandyans have in their ranks players who would want to do their own thing without giving a thought to the team. We saw such happenings at the recently concluded Rugby Asiad. Such action will only be detrimental to the team and if such players are not checked Kandy can forget about the title.

Meanwhile, at Katunayake, Air Force, who are battling hard to keep the ‘wooden spoonists’ title, will host Havelocks, who lost to Army last weekend. Havelocks won’t have anything to fear from the airmen and should win this hands down.