Rusty Sri Lanka subdue gritty India

By Shamseer Jaleel

Colombo, May 1 (Daily Mirror) - Sri Lanka put up a brave effort in two weeks of training as a XV a side outfit to outclass India by 45 points (7 tries, 5 conversions) to 10 points (1 try, 1 conversion, 1 penalty) at the Racecourse ground in Colombo last night.

At the short breather Sri Lanka led 21/3.

Sri Lanka made their intention very clear of running the three quarter line and spread the ball wide with the speedy threes. Though the first 10 minutes, Indians stood out with some good defense, hosts Sri Lanka scored three unanswered first half tries, which put the Indians on the backfoot.  India spoiled many Sri Lankan moves but the lead the hosts created with very good foundation in the first half was too much for a catch up game.

Tarinda Ratwatte, Sohiru Anthony, Adeesha Weerathunga and Mursheed Doray were omnipresent. In fact Tarinda played a major role in the initial half as Centre and then moved to fill in Thenuka Nanayakkara’s fly half berth.

Indians too played well in patches, They had lot of territory advantage but could not convert in to points as Sri Lanka defense stood strong, Deeapk Kumar and Bharat Dagar stood out for them.

It was India who put over a penalty early in the 2nd minute of the game for a high tackle offence. Sri Lanka after several attacking moves, touched down through Pulasthi Dassanayake. Tarinda Ratwatte was on target with the conversion. Within another 2 minutes Sri Lanka scored their second try through a sweeping three quarter move which ended in Thenuka Nanayakkara try. Tarinda Ratwatte added the extra 2 points. In the next couple of minutes Indians defended well till Sudaraka Dikkumbura broke free in the 32nd minute of the game. Tarinda Ratwatte was on target with his third kick at goal to take a short breather 21/3 favoring the hosts.

After the turn around, Pulasthi Dassanayake touched down his second try and Sri Lanka went in to dormant for some time with fatigue getting in to their body which made their Head Coach, Sanath Martis to make the replacements. Thenuka Nanayakkara touched down for his second which Tarinda Ratwatte added the extra 2 points.

India scored their solitary try through their prop forward, Bharat Dagar. Deepak Kumar Punia added the extras. But Sri Lanka hit back soon afterwards through a powerful three quarter move, which ended in Tarinda Ratwatte touching down. There was time for replacement full back, Hirusha Sampath to score one try and convert by himself to take Sri Lanka to an easy 45/10 win and book the final berth against Kazakhstan on 4 May at the same venue.

Referee: Just Wang (Singapore)

CMO Anil Jayasinghe

India will play Qatar to avoid demotion, while Sri Lanka and Kazakhstan will battle it out for Asia rugby Top 4 position on 4 May at the same venue.

Pix by: Kushan Pathiraja