In the morning, the Men’s Marathon was held and Sri Lankan long-distance runner Anuradha Indrajith Cooray finished in a personal best time of 2 hours 15.51 minutes to be placed 6th out of 16 finishers.The Lankan ran in the lead group of 6 competitors even at the 25 Km distance.
During the afternoon, a massive Sri Lankan crowd was present to watch the Men’s cricket final. Lahiru Thirimaanne won the toss and elected to bat.Vice-Captain Upul Tharanga was dismissed cheaply and Dinesh Chandimal who opened the innings was joined by Lahiru Thirimanne. The experienced pair went about their task in a professional manner and was associated themselves in an entertaining partnership of 72 runs for the 2nd wicket. Dinesh Chandimal scored 33 while the hard-hitting Lahiru Thirimanne hit a six and seven fours for a top score of 57 runs.The rest of the batting did not click in the chase for quick runs as Afghanistan bowlers and fielders combined well to restrict Sri Lanka to 133 all out in 19.1 overs. Dilhara Lokuhettige was the only other batsman to get into double figures with 11. Skipper Mohammed Nabi (4/18) and Gulbadin Naib Haji Wali (2/20) were the most successful bowlers for Afghanistan.
Sri Lanka lost one wicket while scoring 78 runs in the first 10 overs. In the final 9.1 overs they lost 9 wickets whilst adding only another 55 runs. The opponents got off to a punishing start with a 20-run opening stand. Isuru Udana produced another effective opening spell to capture 2 wickets for 1 run and triggered a batting collapse with Afghanistan being bowled out for 65 runs in 17 4 overs.They lost 10 wickets for 45 runs in a pathetic batting display. Spin-twins, Jeewan Mendis (3/13) and Chathuranga De Silva (2/20) bowled tightly to ensure the historic Lankan win by 68 runs. It was a proud moment for the majority of spectators as the Sri Lankan flag was hoisted at the Asian Games for the first time.
Sri Lanka won a gold medal at an Asian Games after 12-long years. This time the participation was for 9 sports and only cricket gave the medals with the Women’s cricketers bagging the bronze earlier. In the previous occasion in China there was no medal while four years earlier in Doha it was only a solitary Bronze.The reigning ICC World Twenty 20 Champions, Sri Lanka won gold in their first ever Men’s cricket participation at an Asiad. In 1998, Hashan Thilakaratne captained Sri Lanka in the Commonwealth Games hosted by Malaysia.Sri lanka also took part in the Men’s Cricket in the South Asian Games held in Bangladesh in 2010 but failed to win a medal on both instances. Sri Lanka jumped to the 26th position from joint 33rd overnight in the medal count.
Haritha Perera @ theYeonhui Cricket Venue in North Incheon,South Korea
