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Bhanuka talks about Asia Cup Preparations…
The team has good experienced players and even players who have played in the UAE in our team are a good strength for the team. The Afghanistan team is also an unreliable team. Before coming to UAE, we participated in some good training sessions as well as training matches. With our good preparation, we hope to give a good match to the Afghanistan team.
- Who will be playing XI in the first match?
The selectors have not said anything about it yet. Good things will happen as we expect. We hope to play the first match with 11 good players.
- What about your personal skills?
Actually, I think that I personally scored well in the last world cup. I was able to give my contribution to the team by scoring as many runs as needed as per a plan at the time the team needed. I have played many matches in UAE stadiums, including Sharjah Dubai. Most of the pitches are designed to suit the batsmen. The team is expected to score the required runs in this Asia Cup as well.
- What is the team plan?
Our team is in a positive mood. As a team, we hope to win by showing our talent again and again. In this tournament, we will be playing against first Afghanistan and then Bangladesh team. It is mandatory to be among the best in both these matches to stay in the tournament. There were no cricket tournaments in the last two or three months. No tournament was held after the Australian tour. So there is a little bit of panic as far as this series because after that we have the World Cup to play.
- What do you have to say to fans?
This is how we know that the audience will love us no matter where we are. We hope to show our best skills. So we request you to stay with us in this tournament as you have always stayed with us. We are doing our best in this tournament to raise the Sri Lankan flag high.
ආසියානු කුසලාන සූදානම ගැන භානුක කියයි…
කණ්ඩායමේ හොද අත්දැකීම් බහුල ක්රීඩකයන් සිටිනව. UAE වල ක්රීඩා කල ක්රීඩකයින් පවා අප කණ්ඩාම තුළ සිටීම කණ්ඩායමට හොද ශක්තියක්. ඇෆ්ගනිස්ථාන කණ්ඩායම කියන්නෙත් විශ්වාස කළ නොහැකි කණ්ඩායමක්. UAE එන්න කලින් අපි හොද පුහුණු සැසි කිහිපයකට මෙන්ම, පුහුණු තරග වලටද සහභාගි වුනා. අපහේ හොද සූදානමත් එක්ක හොද තරගයක් ඇෆ්ගනිස්ථාන කණ්ඩායමට දීමට බලාපොරොත්තු වෙනව.
- පළමු තරගයේ ක්රීඩා කරන 11 දෙන්නා කවුරුන්ද?
ඒ පිළිබදව තේරීම්කරුවන් කිසි දෙයක් පවසල නෑ තවම. ඒ දේවල් අපි බලාපොරොත්තු වෙන විදිහට හොද දේවල් සිද්ධ වෙයි. අපි බලාපොරොත්තු වෙනව හොද ක්රීඩකයන් 11 දෙනෙකු සමග පලමු තරගය ක්රීඩා කිරීමට.
- ඔබගේ පුද්ගලික දස්කම් ගැන කතා කලොත්?
ඇත්තටම මම හිතනව පසුගිය world cup එකේ පෞද්ගලිකව මම හොදට ලකුණු රැස් කලා කියල. කණ්ඩායමට අවශ්ය වෙලාවෙ සැලසුමකට අනුව අවශ්ය වෙලාවෙ අවශ්ය විදියට ලකුණු රැස්කර දීමත් සමග මගේ දායකත්වය කණ්ඩායමට ලබා දීමට හැකියාව ලැබුනා. මම ගොඩක් තරග UAE ක්රීඩාංගන වන සාජා ඩුබායි ක්රීඩා කරල තියෙනව. බොහොමයක් තණතීරු පිතිකරුවන්ට උචිත වන අන්දමට තමා සකසල තියෙන්නේ. මේම ආසියානු කුසලානයෙත් කණ්ඩායමට අවශ්ය විදිහට ලකුණු රැස් කරදීමට බලාපොරොත්තු වෙනවා.
- කණ්ඩායම් විදිහට තිබෙන සැලසුම කුමක්ද?
අපගේ කණ්ඩායම හොද මානසික මට්ටමක සිටිනවා. කණ්ඩායමක් විදිහට අපගේ දක්ෂතා නැවත නැවත පෙන්වීම තුළින් ජයග්රහණය කිරීමට බලාපොරොත්තු වෙනව. මෙම තරගාවලියෙත් මුලින්ම ඇෆ්ගනිස්ථාන කණ්ඩායම හා ඉන් පසු බංගලාදේශ කණ්ඩායම් හා තරග වැදීමට නියමිතව තිබෙනව. මෙම තරග දෙකෙත් උපරිම දක්ෂතා අතරට පැමිණීම අනිවාර්ය වෙනව තරගාවලියේ රැදී සිටීමට නම්. පසුගිය මාස දෙකේ තුනේ ක්රිකට් තරගාවලි පැවතුනේ නෑ. ඕස්ට්රේලියානු තරග සංචාරයෙන් පසුව තරගාවලියක් පැවැත්තුනේ නෑ. ඉතින් මේ තරගාවලිය3 තරම් දුරට පොඩි තැතිගැන්මක් තිබෙනව, ඉන් පසුව අපිට ලෝක කුසලානය ක්රීඩා කිරීමට තිබෙන නිසා.
- ප්රේක්ෂකයන්ට පැවසීමට තිබෙන දේ?
මෙහෙමයි අපි දන්නව අපි කොතන කොහොම හිටියත් ප්රේක්ෂකයෝ අපිට අදරෙයි කියල. අපි අපේ උපරිම දක්ෂතා දක්වන්න තමා බලාපොරොත්තුව. ඉතින් ඉල්ලා සිටිනවා අපිත් සමග හැමදාම රැදී සිටිය වගේ මේ තරගාවලියෙත් අපිත් සමග රැදී සිටින ලෙස. ශ්රී ලංකා ධජය ඉහලින්ම එසවීමට අපි මේ තරගාවලියේ උපරිම උත්සහයෙන් ක්රියා කරනව.
ஆசியக் கோப்பைக்கான ஏற்பாடுகள் குறித்து பானுகா கூறியபோது…
அணியில் நல்ல அனுபவம் வாய்ந்த வீரர்கள் உள்ளனர். ஐக்கிய அரபு அமீரகத்தில் விளையாடிய வீரர்கள் கூட எங்கள் அணியில் இருப்பது அணிக்கு நல்ல பலம். ஆப்கானிஸ்தான் அணியும் நம்பகத்தன்மையற்ற அணி. ஐக்கிய அரபு எமிரேட்ஸுக்கு வருவதற்கு முன்பு, நாங்கள் சில நல்ல பயிற்சி அமர்வுகள் மற்றும் பயிற்சி ஆட்டங்களில் பங்கேற்றோம். எங்களின் நல்ல தயாரிப்புடன், ஆப்கானிஸ்தான் அணிக்கு நல்ல போட்டியை வழங்குவோம் என நம்புகிறோம்.
- முதல் போட்டியில் விளையாடும் XI யார்?
இதுபற்றி தேர்வாளர்கள் இதுவரை எதுவும் கூறவில்லை. நாம் எதிர்பார்த்தபடி நல்லதே நடக்கும். முதல் போட்டியில் 11 நல்ல வீரர்களுடன் விளையாடுவோம் என நம்புகிறோம்.
- உங்கள் தனிப்பட்ட திறமைகள் பற்றி கூறினால்?
உண்மையில், கடந்த உலகக் கோப்பையில் நான் தனிப்பட்ட முறையில் நன்றாக அடித்தேன் என்று நினைக்கிறேன். அணிக்கு தேவையான நேரத்தில் ஒரு திட்டத்தின் படி தேவையான புள்ளிகளை சேகரித்து அணிக்கு எனது பங்களிப்பை வழங்க முடிந்தது. ஷார்ஜா துபாயில் உள்ள ஐக்கிய அரபு எமிரேட்ஸ் மைதானங்களில் பல போட்டிகளில் விளையாடியுள்ளேன். பெரும்பாலான ஆடுகளங்கள் பேட்ஸ்மேன்களுக்கு ஏற்றவாறு வடிவமைக்கப்பட்டுள்ளன. இந்த ஆசிய கோப்பையிலும் அணி தேவையான புள்ளிகளை பெறும் என எதிர்பார்க்கப்படுகிறது.
- அணியின் திட்டம் என்ன?
எங்கள் அணி நல்ல மனநிலையில் உள்ளது. ஒரு அணியாக, மீண்டும் மீண்டும் திறமையை வெளிப்படுத்தி வெற்றி பெறுவோம். இந்தப் போட்டியில் முதலில் ஆப்கானிஸ்தான் அணியுடனும், பின்னர் வங்கதேச அணியுடனும் மோதவுள்ளது. போட்டியில் நீடிக்க இந்த இரண்டு போட்டிகளிலும் சிறந்து விளங்குவது கட்டாயமாகும். கடந்த இரண்டு மூன்று மாதங்களாக கிரிக்கெட் போட்டிகள் நடைபெறவில்லை. ஆஸ்திரேலிய சுற்றுப்பயணத்திற்கு பிறகு எந்த போட்டியும் நடத்தப்படவில்லை. அதனால் இந்த தொடர் கொஞ்சம் கடினமாய் உள்ளது, ஏனென்றால் அதன் பிறகு நாம் உலகக் கோப்பை விளையாட வேண்டும்.
- பார்வையாளர்களுக்கு என்ன கூற விரும்புகிறீர்கள்?
நாம் எங்கிருந்தாலும் பார்வையாளர்கள் நம்மை நேசிப்பார்கள் என்பது இப்படித்தான் தெரியும். எங்களின் சிறந்த திறமைகளை வெளிப்படுத்துவோம் என நம்புகிறோம். எனவே நீங்கள் எப்போதும் எங்களுடன் தங்கியிருந்ததைப் போல இந்த போட்டியிலும் எங்களுடன் இருக்குமாறு கேட்டுக்கொள்கிறோம். இந்தப் போட்டியில் இலங்கைக் கொடியை உயர்த்துவதற்கு எங்களால் முடிந்த அனைத்தையும் செய்து வருகிறோம்.
News by Thilina Madusanka
Cricket
Team Green Clinch Women’s NSL T20 Title with Commanding Final Victory
Team Green were crowned champions of the Women’s National Super League T20 tournament after producing a dominant six-wicket victory over Team Blue in the final played at the P. Sara Oval on Saturday.
The championship triumph was built on a disciplined and clinical bowling performance, as Team Green dismissed Team Blue for a modest total of 95 in 18.1 overs. Oshadi Ranasinghe led the attack with an outstanding four-wicket haul, applying sustained pressure through the middle overs and preventing any meaningful recovery. She received strong support from Malsha Shehani, Kawya Kavindi, Nimasha Madushani, and Udeshika Prabodani, as Team Blue struggled to establish partnerships.
Team Blue found resistance through Chamari Athapaththu, who played a determined innings of 51 from 41 deliveries. Her knock helped stabilise the innings after early setbacks, but regular wickets at the other end stalled momentum. Once Athapaththu was dismissed, the remainder of the batting lineup was unable to provide support, leading to a rapid collapse.
In response, Team Green approached the chase with calm assurance. Despite losing a few early wickets, they remained firmly in control throughout the pursuit of the modest target. Nilakshika Silva anchored the innings with a composed unbeaten 36, rotating the strike effectively and keeping the scoreboard ticking. Oshadi Ranasinghe completed a memorable all-round performance by contributing an unbeaten 16, ensuring there were no late complications.
Team Green reached the target at 98 for 4 in 18.1 overs, sealing the title with 11 balls to spare. Team Blue’s bowlers attempted to apply pressure, but the total proved insufficient to trouble a well-organised batting unit.
The victory capped a successful campaign for Team Green, underlining their consistency and balance throughout the tournament, while Oshadi Ranasinghe’s all-round brilliance stood out on the biggest stage.
Brief Scores
Team Blue – 95 all out in 18.1 overs
Chamari Athapaththu 51; Oshadi Ranasinghe 4/17, Udeshika Prabodani 1/17
Team Green – 98/4 in 18.1 overs
Nilakshika Silva 36*, Oshadi Ranasinghe 16*; Devmi Vihanga 1/22
Cricket
Milan, Dunith Likely to Return for ODIs as Sri Lanka Prepare for England Series
England Tour of Sri Lanka 2026
All-rounders Milan Rathnayake and Dunith Wellalage are set to make their return to Sri Lanka’s One-Day International squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against England, which is scheduled to begin in the coming days.
Sri Lanka selectors have opted for a well-balanced squad that blends experienced campaigners with emerging talent as the hosts prepare for a demanding home series against a strong England side.
Charith Asalanka will continue to lead the ODI team as captain, with his role in the middle order expected to be pivotal. Asalanka’s ability to absorb pressure and accelerate when required will be key against England’s varied bowling attack.
At the top of the order, Pathum Nissanka and Kamil Mishara are expected to open the batting. Nissanka’s consistency and sound technique remain central to Sri Lanka’s ODI plans, while Mishara will be eager to convert starts into meaningful contributions. Their partnership will be crucial in providing solid foundations.
Wicketkeeper-batter Kusal Mendis adds experience and aggression to the middle order, offering Sri Lanka flexibility in both tempo and shot selection. Sadeera Samarawickrama and Janith Liyanage further strengthen the batting unit, with both players capable of anchoring the innings or playing decisive roles when momentum is needed.
The squad features strong all-round depth, with Kamindu Mendis offering versatility with both bat and ball. The return of Wanindu Hasaranga significantly enhances Sri Lanka’s all-round options, with his leg-spin expected to play a decisive role on home pitches. Dunith Wellalage’s inclusion adds another spin-bowling all-rounder capable of controlling the middle overs.
Milan Rathnayake’s likely return boosts the seam-bowling all-round resources, while the pace attack will be led by Asitha Fernando, supported by Eshan Malinga and Pramod Madushan. The spin department is further reinforced by Maheesh Theekshana and Jeffrey Vandersay, both expected to be influential under Sri Lankan conditions.
The first ODI of the series is scheduled to be played on Thursday (22) at the R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo.
Probable Sri Lanka ODI Squad vs England
Charith Asalanka (Captain), Kusal Mendis, Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Pavan Rathnayake, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Janith Liyanage, Kamindu Mendis, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Milan Rathnayake, Asitha Fernando, Eshan Malinga, Pramod Madushan, Maheesh Theekshana, Jeffrey Vandersay.
News
Peiris, Norbert, Usgodaarachchi and De Silva Lead Women’s Charge at Yeti SSC Open
The Women’s Singles quarterfinals at the Yeti SSC Open Tennis Championship delivered a high standard of competition, with Yuhansa Peiris, Annaya Norbert, Sandithi Usgodaarachchi, and Dinara De Silva producing impressive performances to book their places in the semifinals.
Yuhansa Peiris produced one of the most commanding displays of the tournament, overwhelming Dulkini Ranasinghe in straight sets, 6/0, 6/0. Peiris controlled the match from the outset, combining solid baseline dominance with precise shot placement and relentless pressure that gave her opponent little opportunity to find rhythm.
Dinara De Silva was equally dominant in her quarterfinal encounter, cruising past Aroshi Thomas 6/1, 6/0. De Silva’s confident shot selection, consistent aggression, and sharp court movement allowed her to dictate play throughout the match, underlining her strong form in the championship.
One of the most competitive matches of the women’s quarterfinals saw Annaya Norbert edge past Biyanka Acquistapace in a tightly contested contest. Norbert held her nerve in crucial moments to secure a 6/4, 7/6 victory, clinching the match in a tense second-set tiebreak after sustained pressure from both players.
Sandithi Usgodaarachchi showcased impressive resilience and mental strength in her quarterfinal clash against Vinethya Dharmarathne. After dropping the opening set 2/6, Usgodaarachchi regrouped and raised her intensity, dominating the next two sets 6/3, 6/1 to complete a hard-fought comeback and advance to the semifinals.
The Men’s Singles quarterfinals were equally compelling, with several strong performances shaping an exciting semifinal lineup. Ganuka Fernando advanced with a composed 6/3, 6/4 victory over Ashen Silva, using disciplined baseline play and timely winners to maintain control during key phases of the match.
Thehan Wijemanne delivered one of the most dominant performances in the men’s draw, dismantling Neven Kannangara 6/1, 6/2. Wijemanne’s aggressive approach and constant pressure from the opening game left little room for his opponent to recover.
Harishva Parameshwaran demonstrated experience and tactical awareness in a solid 6/2, 6/4 win against Rehan Gunawardhana, maintaining steady momentum and dictating play with well-constructed points. Rounding off the quarterfinal stage, Methvan Vijemanne advanced in emphatic fashion, defeating Aahil Kallel 6/1, 6/1 with excellent court coverage and sharp finishing.
With the semifinals now set, the Yeti SSC Open Tennis Championship continues to highlight the growing depth, competitiveness, and quality of Sri Lanka’s tennis talent across both the women’s and men’s categories.
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