Aoteraroa bats at Harare .... does that sound Kiliki !!

At Harare, in ODI 3673, Zimbabwe opted to bowl, IS Sodhi makes debut as Aotearoa are batting …… does that sound ‘Kiliki’ to you ?

After a break of just over a month, New Zealand are back and in the 1^st One dayer against Zimbabwe, the word Aotearoa -  is  emblazoned on their jerseys. They are  without a number of familiar faces, as Brendon McCullum and Tim Southee have been rested, and Trent Boult and Corey Anderson are nursing injuries. So more opportunities for some youngsters.  Last year, Zimbabwe were at a serious low following a winless tour of Bangladesh. This year, despite looking an entirely transformed side at various points, they have won only one of 11 ODIs.

Aotearoa, originally used in reference to the North Island of New Zealand, is now the most widely known and accepted Māori name for the entire country. Since the 1990s it has been the custom to sing New Zealand's national anthem, "God Defend New Zealand", in both Māori and English, exposing the term Aotearoa to a wider audience.    The literal translation of Aotearoa is "land of the long white cloud".

New Zealand has been inhabited by Maori since approximately 1300 AD. Dutch navigator Abel Tasman was the first European to discover New Zealand during his voyage of 1642–43, although he never set foot on the land. In 1769 the explorer James Cook arrived in New Zealand and claimed it for Great Britain, but it wasn't until the wasn't until the late 1700s that the first Europeans began to settle in New Zealand. In 1835 the Declaration of Independence of New Zealand was signed by 34 Maori chiefs.

Nearer home at R Premadasa stadium, Malinga leading the side was for another rude shock.  The scorecard reads : Pakistan 174 for 9 (Anwar 46, Afridi 45) beat Sri Lanka 172 for 7 (Kapugedera 48*, Jayasuriya 40) by one wicket – but a Lankan win was a foregone conclusion around halfway of the Pak innings.  Chasing 173 – Pak wickets fell at regular intervals and at 40, half of the side were back before Shahid Afridi launched an assault 45 off 22 with 4 sixers.  He departed at 107/1 – 14.1 overs when only one result appeared probable. 

Anwar Ali, Pakistan's No. 9 batsman, waltzed into the belly of a baying Premadasa with 66 required from 35 balls, and produced a cataclysmic 46 from 17 balls, to snatch a victory from certain defeat.  He plundered two sixes and a four off debutant Shehan Jayasuriya in the 17th over, before treating Thisara Perera and Lasith Malinga with almost as much disdain to send Pakistan to within eight runs of victory.  The hosts have now lost all three series in this tour, though in mitigation, they were fielding six players with two T20 international caps or fewer, in this match.

Shehan Jayasuriya made 40 but would like to forget this match… he is another long Lankan name : Dampalage Shehan Naveendra Fonseka Gunawardene Jayasuriya.  The other debutant was -  Madagamagamage Dasun Shanaka, right handed medium pacer.

The referred ‘Kiliki’ at the beginning is the fictitious language Used In 'Baahubali' - spoken by the warrior hordes headed by warlord Kalakeya.  The makers claim that it  isn't just meaningless gibberish — Kiliki boasts of a 750-word vocabulary and more than 40 solid grammar rules. The creation of a new language for a fictional tribe in a fantasy series lends the work authenticity. After all, a 'mysterious' tribe can't be expected to speak a language known to us,  and after some stage where the English translation appear scrolling, it is left to one’s imagination and awe to understand what is spoken in ‘Kiliki’.

When something clicks, everything associated with that is spoken off highly and that best explains the success of ‘Bahubali, the beginning’ which is really making waves.

With regards – S.Sampathkumar

2^nd Aug 2015. @ 12.45 noon.