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

Published

2 years ago

July 13, 2023

Editor

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.

News

ISKA Appoints Dayan Samarasekara as National Director for Sri Lanka

Published

1 day ago

November 28, 2025

Editor

The International Sport Kickboxing Association (ISKA) has appointed Dayan Samarasekara as the National Director for Sri Lanka, recognizing his longstanding contribution to the development and modernisation of combat sports in the country.

Samarasekara has played a pivotal role in elevating Sri Lanka’s combat sports sector and has also been instrumental in supporting the professionalisation of combat sports across the South Asian region. His vision and commitment have been acknowledged through this significant appointment by ISKA.

Currently serving as the Co-Founder and Combat Sports Director of KFL, Samarasekara continues to work towards expanding and strengthening combat sports in Sri Lanka. ISKA has expressed confidence that, together with his leadership, the organisation will be able to further broaden the footprint and recognition of combat sports within the country.

About ISKA

The International Sport Kickboxing Association (ISKA), established in 1986, is the world’s most widely recognised sanctioning and regulatory body for over 20 combat sports and competitive martial arts disciplines.

ISKA is dedicated to training officials, updating competition rules, and upholding global standards, integrity, and professionalism while identifying champions and elite competitors worldwide.

The association regulates top-tier global events such as the US OPEN World Martial Arts Championships and GLORY.

Cricket

Sri Lanka Stun Pakistan to Seal Final Spot After Dramatic Tri-Series Turnaround in Rawalpindi

Published

2 days ago

November 27, 2025

Editor

Rawalpindi, Nov. 27 – Sri Lanka mounted a remarkable comeback in the Pakistan T20I Tri-Series, defeating the hosts by 6 runs in a tense final league-stage encounter to secure their place in Saturday’s grand finale. The victory completes a spirited late surge from the Islanders, who began the series with two deflating defeats but responded with back-to-back wins to keep their title hopes alive.

Sri Lanka’s Road to the Final – From Early Struggles to Strong Recovery

Sri Lanka’s campaign began on the wrong foot, suffering a heavy 67-run defeat against Zimbabwe and a 7-wicket loss to Pakistan in their first two outings. Their batting struggled for rhythm, and the bowling failed to contain opposition top orders.

But the narrative shifted dramatically in the last two matches:

Match 5: Sri Lanka vs Zimbabwe – A Statement Win

Zimbabwe: 146/5
Sri Lanka: 148/1 (16.2 ov)
Sri Lanka dominated with a 9-wicket win, powered by an authoritative chase that restored confidence ahead of the Pakistan clash.

Today’s Match: Sri Lanka Defend 184 in a Rawalpindi Thriller

Sri Lanka – 184/5 (20 ov)

A superb innings from Kavindu Mishara (50 off 34) anchored Sri Lanka’s approach, supported by contributions from Kusal Mendis, Janith Liyanage, and Kusal Perera. Partnerships were steady, with Sri Lanka crossing key milestones — 100 in 11.1 overs and 150 in 16.2 — setting up a competitive 184.

Pakistan – 178/7 (20 ov)

Pakistan’s innings was rocked early, reduced to 45/4 in the Powerplay, thanks to Sri Lanka’s fiery pace attack.
Dushmantha Chameera, later named Player of the Match, delivered when it mattered most.

Agha Salman (50 off 35) and Usman Khan attempted a rebuild with a 50-run partnership, but Sri Lanka’s bowlers held their nerve at the death.

Pakistan reviewed twice unsuccessfully in tense moments but ultimately fell short by 6 runs.

Series Summary So Far

Match	Winner	Margin
Pakistan vs Zimbabwe	Pakistan	5 wickets
Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka	Zimbabwe	67 runs
Sri Lanka vs Pakistan	Pakistan	7 wickets
Pakistan vs Zimbabwe	Pakistan	69 runs
Zimbabwe vs Sri Lanka	Sri Lanka	9 wickets
Sri Lanka vs Pakistan (today)	Sri Lanka	6 runs

Pakistan finished the league matches with 3 wins, Sri Lanka with 2, and Zimbabwe with 1.

Final: Pakistan vs Sri Lanka – What to Expect on Nov. 29

The final between Pakistan and Sri Lanka is shaping up as a high-stakes rematch. Both teams have beaten each other once in the series, making this final evenly poised.

Pakistan Strengths

Explosive top order (Babar not featured in league matches but expected for final)
Strong seam attack at home conditions
Ability to accelerate in middle overs

Sri Lanka Strengths

Momentum after two consecutive victories
Improved batting with stable partnerships
A rejuvenated pace attack led by Chameera and a disciplined spin unit

Key Battles

Sri Lanka openers vs Shaheen Afridi
Agha Salman vs Hasaranga/slow bowlers
Middle-overs match-up: Mendis vs Shadab Khan

Prediction: A Close Final, Momentum Favors Sri Lanka Slightly

With Rawalpindi offering good batting conditions under lights, a totals around 165–180 will be par.
Pakistan remain favorites at home, but Sri Lanka’s recent form gives them a genuine chance to upset the hosts. If Mishara, Mendis, or Liyanage fire again and Chameera continues his rhythm, Sri Lanka could edge Pakistan in a tight contest.

Predicted Winner (slight edge): Sri Lanka – if they bat first and defend with confidence.

Cricket

SSC Ground Begins Major Upgrades Ahead of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026

Published

2 days ago

November 27, 2025

Editor

Colombo, Nov. 27 – The historic Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) Ground is undergoing significant redevelopment as Sri Lanka prepares to co-host the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 alongside India. One of the most notable upgrades is the long-awaited installation of floodlights, marking a new chapter for one of the country’s most prestigious cricket venues.

SSC has traditionally been a venue for day matches, regularly hosting domestic cricket and women’s internationals. For years, Colombo’s day-night fixtures were primarily steered towards the R. Premadasa Stadium, the city’s largest ground equipped for evening play.

With the World Cup approaching — scheduled from 7 February to 8 March 2026 — SSC is set to take on a more prominent role. The venue will host five group-stage matches, including its first-ever World Cup night game. The opening fixture at SSC will be on 7 February, featuring Pakistan vs Netherlands, followed by the ground’s first floodlit World Cup encounter on 9 February, when Zimbabwe meet Oman at 3:00 PM local time.
The only full night match scheduled at SSC is the high-profile clash between Pakistan and the USA on 10 February at 7:00 PM.

Cricket authorities noted that the addition of floodlights will not only support Sri Lanka’s World Cup commitments but also expand SSC’s long-term hosting capabilities. Once completed, the upgrades could pave the way for future day-night Test matches and domestic tournament games under lights — potentially elevating SSC’s status as a top-tier international venue.

With construction and installations now in progress, the SSC Ground is gearing up to reassert its place among Sri Lanka’s elite cricket stadiums — this time with the glow of modern stadium lighting.