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Chamari hero as Sri Lanka Women’s thump New Zealand Women’s by 10 wickets

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The captain of the Sri Lanka Women’s Cricket team, Chamari Athapaththu blasted 80 runs off 47 balls to steer Sri Lanka to a comfortable 10-wicket win over New Zealand women’s in the third and final T20 match at the P Sara Oval, on Wednesday.

The victory was a consolation for the hosts, who had lost the first two matches in the series.

Sri Lanka winning the toss and opting to ball first, paid immediate success when they were reduced to 3-73 inside the first 10 overs.

New Zealand lasses who had a torrid time in the middle with the bat were seen struggling to score runs where none of their batters poses a threat to the Lankan bowlers.

When the chips were down Inform batter Suzie Bates once again rescued New Zealand with 37 runs off 38 deliveries, including 6 fours while skipper Sophie Devine played a quickfire innings, contributing 46 runs off just 25 balls, which included 2 fours and 3 sixes to help them post a decent score on the board at the end of the allotted 20 overs.

In the bowling front, Inoka Ranaweera took 3 wickets for 15 runs while Sugandika Kumari took two wickets.

During the chase, it was a dream start for the Chamari and co as they cruised to 64 runs within the powerplay without losing a wicket.

Interestingly Chamari did the bulk in the powerplay where she scored 45 runs of the 64 runs in the powerplay.

Athapaththu reached her half-century in just 25 balls which was registered as the fastest 50 scored by a Sri Lankan woman in T20is.

She finished off the game unbeaten with 80 runs, of which she scored 13 boundaries and two sixes.

Harshitha Samarawickrama also played handy innings with a fighting unbeaten 49 off 40 deliveries to take their team to a record win.

She smashed three consecutive boundaries in the 14th over to complete the chase in style with 33 balls to spare.

Chamari and Harshitha’s record-breaking 143-run partnership also created history as Sri Lanka’s highest partnership.

The dominant win also saw Sri Lanka create a new record for the highest 10-wicket run chase in women’s T20i history.

There is little doubt over Chamari Athapaththu being the greatest female batter in Sri Lankan history. She has scored the top ten individual scores for Sri Lanka Women and has been the backbone of women’s cricket.

After her record-shattering performance in the recently concluded ODI series against New Zealand Women, she scaled the top of the ICC rankings for batters in Women’s ODIs, an achievement that is in equal parts fitting and historic.

Athapaththu also became just the second Sri Lankan cricketer across gender to reach No.1 in the ICC ODI batters’ rankings. Sanath Jayasuriya remains the only other to have reached that mark. He was the No.1 ranked batter in Men’s ODIs between 2002 and 2003.

Scores: New Zealand 140/9 (Devine 46, Ranaweera 3-15, Kumari 2-23) lost to Sri Lanka 143 for 0 (Athapaththu 80 not out, Samarawickrama 49 not out) by 10 wickets.

චමරි ගේ අනර්ඝ ඉනිමෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකා ක්‍රිඩිකාවන්ට කඩුළු 10ක ජයක්

ශ්‍රී ලංකා කාන්තා ක්‍රිකට් කණ්ඩායමේ නායිකා චමරි අතපත්තු පන්දු 47කදී ලකුණු 80ක් රැස්කරමින් නවසීලන්ත කාන්තා පිලට එරෙහිව පී සරා ඕවල් ක්‍රීඩාංගණයේදී බදාදා පැවැති තෙවැනි සහ අවසන් විස්සයි20 තරගයෙන් කඩුලු 10ක පහසු ජයක් අත්කර ගැනීමට ශ්‍රී ලංකා පිලට හැකිවිය.

තරගාවලියේ පළමු තරග දෙක පරාජයට පත්ව සිටි සත්කාරක කණ්ඩායමට මෙම ජයග්‍රහණය අස්වැසිල්ලක් විය.

කාසියේ වාසිය දිනා පළමුව පන්දු යැවීමට තීරණය කළ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව විසින් නවසීලන්ත ක්‍රීඩිකාවන් පළමු ඕවර 10 තුළ ලකුණු 3-73කට සීමා කළහ.

පන්දු 38 කදී හතරේ පහර 6 ක් ඇතුළුව ලකුණු 37 ක් රැස්කරමින් නවසීලන්ත ඉනිම ගොඩනැගූ සුසී බේට්ස් යළිත් වරක් නවසීලන්තය බේරා ගත් අතර නායිකා සොෆී ඩිවින් පන්දු 25 කදී හතරේ පහර 2 ක් සහ හයේ පහර 3 ක් සමඟින් ලකුණු 46 ක් රැස් කළාය. නියමිත පන්දුවාර 20 අවසානයේ ඔවුන් සහනදායි ලකුණු පුවරුවක් ලබා ගත්හ.

පන්දු යැවීමේ පෙරමුණේ ඉනෝකා රණවීර ලකුණු 15කට කඩුලු 3ක් දවාගත් අතර සුගන්දිකා කුමාරි කඩුලු 2ක් දවා ගත්තාය.

හඹා යාමේදී කිසිඳු කඩුල්ලක් නොදැවී මුල් පන්දුවාර හය තුළ ලකුණු 64ක් ලබා සිටියදී චමරි ඇතුළු කණ්ඩායමට එය අගනා ආරම්භයක් විය.

සිත්ගන්නා කරුණ නම්, චමරි පවර්ප්ලේ තුළ විශාල ප්‍රමාණයක් කළ අතර එහිදී ඇය පවර්ප්ලේ හි ලකුණු 64 න් ලකුණු 45 ක් ලබා ගත්තාය.

අතපත්තු සිය අර්ධ ශතකය පන්දු 25කදී වාර්තා කළ අතර එය විස්සයි20 තරගවලදී ශ්‍රී ලංකා ක්‍රීඩිකාවක් රැස් කළ වේගවත්ම ලකුණු 50 ලෙස සටහන් විය.

ඇය නොදැවී ලකුණු 80ක් ලබා තරගය නිමා කළ අතර ඉන් හතරේ පහර 13ක් සහ හයේ පහර 2ක් ඇය ලබා ගත්තාය.

හර්ෂිතා සමරවික්‍රම ද ප්‍රයෝජනවත් ඉනිමක් ක්‍රීඩා කරමින් පන්දු 40 කදී නොදැවී ලකුණු 49 ක් රැස්කරමින් තම කණ්ඩායම වාර්තාගත ජයග්‍රහණයක් කරා රැගෙන යාමට සමත් විය.

ඇය 14 වැනි ඕවරයේ පිට පිට හතරේ පහර 3ක් එල්ලකළ අතර පන්දු 33ක් ඉතිරිව තිබියදී එම හඹා යාම සාර්ථක කර ගත්තාය.

චමරි සහ හර්ෂිතාගේ වාර්තාගත ලකුණු 143 සබඳතාව ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ඉහළම සබඳතාව ලෙස ඉතිහාසයට එක්විය.

මෙම ප්‍රමුඛ ජයග්‍රහණයත් සමඟින් කාන්තා T20i ඉතිහාසයේ වැඩිම කඩුලු 10 ලකුණු හඹා යාමේ නව වාර්තාවක් බිහි කිරීමට ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සමත් විය.

චමරි අතපත්තු ශ්‍රී ලංකා ඉතිහාසයේ විශිෂ්ඨතම ක්‍රීඩිකාව වීම ගැන සැකයක් නැත. ඇය ශ්‍රී ලංකා කාන්තා ක්‍රිකට් කණ්ඩායම වෙනුවෙන් සිය දායකත්වය හොඳින්ම ලබා දෙන අතර කාන්තා ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩාවේ කොඳු නාරටිය වූවාය.

නවසීලන්ත කාන්තා පිලට එරෙහිව පසුගියදා නිමාවට පත් වූ එක්දින තරගාවලියේදී ඇයගේ වාර්තා බිඳහෙළන දස්කම් දැක්වීමෙන් පසුව, කාන්තා එක්දින තරගවලදී පිතිකරුවන් සඳහා අයිසීසී ශ්‍රේණිගත කිරීම්වල ඉහළින්ම වැජඹීමට ඇය සමත් වූවාය.

අතපත්තු ICC ODI පිතිකරුවන් ශ්‍රේණිගත කිරීම්වල අංක 1 ස්ථානයට පැමිණි දෙවන ශ්‍රී ලංකා ක්‍රිකට් ක්‍රීඩකයා බවට පත් විය. සනත් ජයසූරිය එම ලකුණට පැමිණි අනෙක් එකම පුද්ගලයා වේ. ඔහු 2002 සහ 2003 අතර පිරිමි එක්දින තරඟාවලියේ අංක 1 පිතිකරුවා විය.

ලකුණු: නවසීලන්තය 140/9 (ඩෙවින් 46, රණවීර 3-15, කුමාරි 2-23) ශ්‍රී ලංකාව කඩුලු 0කට 143 (අතපත්තු නොදැවී 80, සමරවික්‍රම 49) කඩුලු 10කින් පරාජයට පත් විය.

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Strengthening Ties Through Sport: China Donates Five Dragon Boats to Sri Lanka

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The People’s Republic of China has donated five dragon boats worth LKR 5 million to Sri Lanka, marking a significant step in promoting water sports across the island.

The donation was made during the China-Sri Lanka Friendship Dragon Boat Championship, organized by NACKSL – the National Association of Canoeing and Kayaking Sri Lanka, held on May 31 at the Diyawanna Rowing Center. The championship saw the participation of 25 teams from various regions of the country.

The event was graced by:

  • Minister of Youth and Sports Sunil Kumara Gamagedara
  • Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs Eranga Gunasekara
  • Chinese Ambassador to Sri Lanka Qi Zhenhong

Trophies and certificates were awarded to the winning athletes, and the official handover of the dragon boats was completed at the same event.

A Symbol of Friendship and Cultural Exchange

Minister Gamagedara emphasized that the China-Sri Lanka Dragon Boat Championship, and the donation of dragon boats, symbolize the strong cultural, sporting, and diplomatic ties between the two nations. He extended his gratitude to the Chinese Embassy and stated that this generous gift would be instrumental in expanding and developing water sports across Sri Lanka.

“From North to South and East to West, we are committed to promoting water sports across the country,” said the Minister.

He further noted that this donation would help create pathways for Sri Lankan youth in canoeing, kayaking, and dragon boat racing, while also boosting sports tourism.

Celebrating Unity and National Inclusion

Special appreciation was extended to student participants from schools in Jaffna, highlighting the championship’s role in fostering national unity and showcasing the talent and commitment of young athletes from all regions.

The Deputy Minister also expressed hope that more youth with exceptional talent in water sports would be provided with sports scholarships in the future.

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Kusal Mendis Falls Short in High-Stakes IPL Eliminator Clash

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Sri Lanka’s Kusal Mendis failed to rise to the occasion during a crucial IPL 2025 Eliminator as Gujarat Titans fell short in their chase against Mumbai Indians at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium in New Chandigarh.

Chasing a steep target of 229, Gujarat Titans needed early momentum. While opener Sai Sudharsan led the charge with a composed 80 off 49 deliveries, Kusal Mendis—expected to play a key supporting role—could not live up to expectations on this competitive stage.

Mendis, who had the platform to make an impact, started aggressively with two sixes in his 10-ball 20 but threw away his wicket in an uncharacteristic manner—getting out hit wicket to Mitchell Santner. In a high-pressure match where composure was vital, Mendis’s dismissal was a major setback for GT, stalling their momentum during a promising phase of the innings.

This was an opportunity for Mendis to demonstrate consistency and reliability at the highest level of franchise cricket, especially with the eyes of selectors and fans fixed on performances under pressure. However, the lack of game awareness and a reckless approach led to a soft exit at a crucial moment.

GT eventually managed 208/6, falling short by 20 runs. With Mendis’s early exit, the middle order was left exposed to the mounting run rate, and despite brief resistance from Washington Sundar and Rahul Tewatia, the chase fizzled out.

While Mendis has shown flashes of brilliance in previous matches, this performance serves as a reminder of the demands of knockout-stage cricket. With playoffs being the toughest test of mental and technical strength, Sri Lanka’s white-ball star must tighten his game to deliver when it matters most.

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Awareness Media Briefing on New Sports Regulations

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A special media briefing on the new regulations under the Sports Act was held on May 30, 2025, at the Department of Government Information, with the aim of raising public awareness on the upcoming changes to Sri Lanka’s sports governance framework.

The event featured key officials from the Ministry of Youth and Sports, including:

  • Sunil Kumara Gamagedara – Minister of Youth and Sports
  • Sugath Thilakaratne – Deputy Minister of Sports
  • Aruna Bandara – Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Sports
  • Shemal Fernando – Director General of Sports
  • Priyantha Ekanayake – Chairman, National Sports Council

These leaders addressed the media on the impact, scope, and enforcement of the new regulations, highlighting their importance in ensuring transparency, accountability, and modernization in Sri Lanka’s sports sector.

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