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Ken Borland



De Lange praised for seizing his opportunity 0

Posted on December 26, 2011 by Ken

Veteran South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis on Monday praised debutant fast bowler Marchant de Lange for seizing his opportunity on the first day of the second test against Sri Lanka at Kingsmead.
    De Lange claimed four for 60 to reduce Sri Lanka to 289 for seven at stumps, having earned his first cap due to a knee injury that ruled out Vernon Philander, who took 24 wickets in his first three tests against Australia and Sri Lanka.
    “Marchant did well, he was on the button from ball one. The injury to Vernon was unfortunate, but that opens the door for someone else. The opportunity was there for Marchant and he took it. It’s nice to have another 145km/h bowler around,” Kallis told a news conference after the end of play.
    The 21-year-old De Lange hails from the quiet sub-tropical town of Tzaneen in the far north of South Africa and has played just 14 other first-class matches.
    Sri Lanka coach Geoff Marsh was pleased with a more solid batting display by his team, who were dismissed for just 180 and 150 in the first test at Centurion.
    “We kept being all out for less than 200 in our first innings, it happened against Australia, Pakistan and here. It was something we had to address, the batsmen had to work on their technique, how they approached their innings and their thinking out in the middle. They all have very good records, so we should be getting 300+,” Marsh said.
    “But the batsmen have been working really hard and focusing on all aspects of batting. One guy went on to get a big score today and we’re around 300, which is where we have to be to be competitive. It was a bit of a breakthrough today.”
    Thilan Samaraweera scored 86 not out as he and debutant Dinesh Chandimal (58) put on 111 for the sixth wicket.
    “I’m really pleased with Thilan, he’s played well on this tour and it’s great to have a quality player like him on board.
    “And Dinesh has done very well for us in one-day cricket, he’s worked really hard and he can come in and give us some oomph at number seven. He has all the shots and he’s not afraid of playing them. I hope it’s the start of a good career,” Marsh said.

Samaraweera & Chandimal bat SL out of danger 0

Posted on December 26, 2011 by Ken

Thilan Samaraweera and Dinesh Chandimal batted Sri Lanka out of danger as they steered the visitors to 289 for seven at stumps on the first day of the second test against South Africa at Kingsmead on Monday.

    Sri Lanka had elected to bat first under clear blue skies on a brown-coloured pitch, but their top-order batsmen lost concentration at key moments as they slipped to 162 for five..

    But Samaraweera and debutant Chandimal put together an outstanding record sixth-wicket partnership of 111 to take Sri Lanka to 273 for six before Chandimal was out eight overs before the close.

    The 22-year-old Chandimal scored 58 off 86 balls, with seven fours, before he reached out to try and cut a wide delivery from Morne Morkel, but edged the ball to wicketkeeper Mark Boucher.

    The partnership bettered the previous sixth-wicket record for Sri Lanka against South Africa of 105 between Chamana Kapugedera and Prasanna Jayawardene in Colombo in 2006.

    Samaraweera, who played with the straightest of bats and great application, reached the close on 86 not out, losing Thisara Perera with what turned out to be the last ball of the day’s play.

    Perera scored 12 before he fended at a lifter from debutant fast bowler Marchant de Lange, giving an easy catch to Hashim Amla at backward short-leg. 

    De Lange, who caused obvious discomfort with his sharp pace and steep bounce off a short run-up, was the best of the South African bowlers with four for 60 in 16.3 overs.

    Imran Tahir was the unluckiest of the bowlers, finishing with one for 87 in 28 overs, but the Pakistan-born leg-spinner had Chandimal dropped on 25 by the leaping De Lange, the replacement for the injured Vernon Philander, and should have claimed the wicket of Samaraweera on 50 when the veteran popped back a return catch, but the umpire called a no-ball which television replays subsequently showed to be a legitimate delivery.

    De Lange had taken three wickets by tea to reduce Sri Lanka to 197 for five, Mahela Jayawardene having earlier joined an exclusive club, becoming the ninth batsman to reach 10,000 test runs.

Jayawardene, Sri Lanka’s leading test-run scorer, reached the landmark with a single off the ninth delivery he faced, pushing fast bowler Dale Steyn square on the off-side.

The former captain reached 31 in his 127th test before falling in the second over after lunch as he played all around a delivery from Morkel, the ball nipping back and coming through the gate to bowl Jayawardene.

The 21-year-old De Lange had been brought on after just six overs and he made an almost instant impact with figures of two for five from his first four overs.

De Lange struck with the final ball of his second over when Tharanga Paranavitana chased a delivery outside off stump and edged a catch to Boucher to fall for 12.

Kumar Sangakkara, the leading batsman on the International Cricket Council’s official test rankings, was then caught behind for a duck off the second ball of De Lange’s following over.

The left-hander was forced to play at an excellent delivery that pitched back-of-a-length and held its line just outside off stump, inducing a thin edge and another catch for Boucher as the tourists slipped to 47 for two.

The tall Easterns Titans bowler struck again after lunch when he took a good reflex catch off his own bowling to remove Angelo Mathews for 30 and end a promising fifth-wicket stand of 45 with Samaraweera.

 

Samaraweera, who batted for four-and-a-half hours and faced 218 balls, showed the most application and technical skill of the Sri Lankans. The 35-year-old collected 10 fours, seven of them in the “V”.

Captain and opening batsman Tillakaratne Dilshan survived several rash shots at the start of his innings but made it to 47 off 69 balls before swinging a low full toss from Tahir straight to Morkel at long-leg.


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    Galatians 5:25 – “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep walking in step with the Spirit.”

    There is only one Christ and all things that are preached in his name must conform to his character. We can only know Christ’s character through an intimate and personal relationship with him.

    How would Christ respond in situations in which you find yourself? Would he be underhanded? Would he be unforgiving and cause broken relationships?

    “The value of your faith and the depth of your spiritual experience can only be measured by their practical application in your daily life. You can spend hours at mass crusades; have the ability to pray in public; quote endlessly from the Word; but if you have not had a personal encounter with the living Christ your outward acts count for nothing.” – Solly Ozrovech, A Shelter From The Storm

     

     



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