News

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

South Asian Karate Championship 2025: India and Sri Lanka Shine as Karate Celebrates 50 Years in Sri Lanka

Published

3 days ago

July 9, 2025

Editor

Colombo, July 5–6, 2025 – The 9th South Asian Karate Championship and the 1st South Asian Youth Karate Championship successfully concluded at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium, marking a landmark moment in Sri Lanka’s martial arts history as the nation celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the Sri Lanka Karate Federation.

This prestigious two-day event was jointly organized by the South Asian Karate Federation and the Sri Lanka Karate Federation, which is registered under the Ministry of Sports as one of the seven official sports federations in the country.

Day 1 (July 5) – Youth Championship Dominated by India and Sri Lanka

The opening day featured intense youth-level competition with over 700 athletes from seven South Asian nations – Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the Maldives – competing in age categories below 14.

🥇 Youth Medal Standings (U-14 Category):

India – 22 Medals (1st Place)
Nepal – 20 Medals (2nd Place)
Sri Lanka – 10 Medals (3rd Place)

📺 Watch Day 1 Highlights:

Final Day (July 6) – Sri Lanka Takes Youth Title, India Clinches Senior Crown

The second day of the tournament featured both senior and youth finals. In a historic achievement, Sri Lanka emerged champions in the Youth Division, while India secured the Senior Team Championship, continuing their regional dominance.

Final Team Standings:

Senior Category:
- 🥇 India (Champions)
- 🥈 Nepal (Runners-up)
- 🥉 Sri Lanka (Third Place)
Youth Category:
- 🥇 Sri Lanka (Champions)
- 🥈 India (Runners-up)
- 🥉 Nepal (Third Place)

Watch Final Day Highlights:

Special Guests & Recognition

The event was graced by His Excellency Akio Isomata, the Japanese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, who attended as the Chief Guest, acknowledging Sri Lanka’s long-standing contribution to the growth of karate in South Asia.

Also present was Bharat Sharma, President of the South Asian Karate Federation, who praised the standard of competition and Sri Lanka’s organizing excellence.

Karate in Sri Lanka – 50 Years of Legacy

This championship coincided with the 50th Anniversary of the Sri Lanka Karate Federation, which has played a vital role in shaping karate talent nationally and internationally. With continued support from the Ministry of Sports, karate remains one of Sri Lanka’s fastest-growing combat sports.

Football

Sri Lanka Women Finish Qualifiers with 0 Goals, 20 Conceded – Who Will Take Responsibility?

Published

7 days ago

July 5, 2025

Editor

Colombo, July 3 – Sri Lanka Women’s National Football Team wrapped up their AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers campaign with a third straight defeat — a 2-0 loss to Laos — confirming their position at the bottom of Group F, with 0 wins, 0 goals scored, and 18 conceded in just three games.

But beyond the scorelines lies a far more serious issue: a complete collapse of women’s football development in Sri Lanka. And this time, the blame does not lie on one individual — but on a system that has failed the sport, from top to bottom.

Match-by-Match Recap

Match 1: Sri Lanka 0 – 10 Uzbekistan

Possession: 30%
Shots on Target: 0
xG: 0.0 vs Uzbekistan’s 3.60
A game that exposed a lack of preparation, structure, and fitness from the very start.

Match 2: Sri Lanka 0 – 8 Nepal

Possession: 50%
Defensive errors gifted goals, including a hat-trick by Sabitra Bhandari.
xG: Nepal 3.76 vs Sri Lanka 0.60
Tactical breakdown: Midfield collapsed under pressure, backline failed to close space.

Match 3: Sri Lanka 0 – 2 Laos

Possession: 50%
Shots on Target: 5
xG: 2.56 (Laos) vs 1.08 (Sri Lanka)
A more balanced performance, but defensive lapses in the 73rd and 90+2 minutes led to defeat. Sri Lanka couldn’t convert chances despite their best game statistically.

Final Group Standings – Group F

Team	MP	GF	GA	GD	Points
🇳🇵 Nepal	2	17	0	+17	6
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan	2	17	0	+17	6
🇱🇦 Laos	2	2	16	-14	0
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka	3	0	20	-20	0

Tactical Issues Across All Matches

No clear formation or transition play.
Lack of defensive coordination — players failed to track runners, especially on the flanks.
No attacking identity — only 1.08 xG across three games.
In-game management absent — few substitutions or tactical shifts despite being outplayed.

While public criticism often targets the President of the Football Federation, this decline in women’s football runs deeper:

Who Is Accountable? Not Just the President

Women’s Football Committee:

Failed to organize any domestic tournament in recent years.
Selected the squad via open trials, with no league performance data to back selections.
No consistent training camps or fitness programs.

Executive Committee:

Remains silent on the recurring failures.
No inquiries, reviews, or structural reforms have followed Sri Lanka’s repeated humiliations — including the U20 Women’s SAFF defeat earlier this year.

Technical & Development Staff:

No tactical framework or youth development.
No modern coaching methods or international exposure for players.

The Bigger Problem: Silence and Stagnation

Sri Lanka is not just losing matches — it’s losing direction. The current state of women’s football is not the result of one bad campaign. It’s the product of years of neglect, political appointments, and a failure to treat women’s football with equal priority.

Even now, there is no explanation from the Executive Committee on how the women’s team was prepared or what plans exist for recovery.

Time for a Reset, Not Excuses

If Sri Lanka is serious about competing in international football, the following must be addressed:

✅ A national women’s league
✅ Provincial and school-level competitions
✅ Professional coaching staff and structured fitness programs
✅ Regular international friendlies and camps
✅ Transparent selection processes based on performance, not politics

🔚 Conclusion

Sri Lanka’s 2026 AFC campaign should not just be remembered for the scorelines — but as a call for change. It is time for every stakeholder — from the Women’s Committee to the Executive — to reflect, respond, and rebuild.

News

Sri Lanka Set to Face UAE in Crucial Rugby Clash Tomorrow in Colombo

Published

1 week ago

July 4, 2025

Editor

The Sri Lanka national rugby team will lock horns with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in a much-anticipated international rugby encounter set to take place today (July 4) at the iconic Racecourse Ground, Colombo.

As part of their final preparations, the Sri Lankan team held an intensive training session today under the watchful eyes of the coaching staff. The team looked sharp, focused, and ready to bring their A-game to home soil.

This clash promises to be a key test for the Tuskers as they look to strengthen their footing in the regional rugby scene and gain momentum ahead of upcoming international competitions. UAE, a rising force in Asian rugby, will also be eyeing a big performance away from home.

Both teams are expected to field strong lineups, and the match is anticipated to draw significant interest from local fans eager to witness top-tier rugby action.

📍 Match Info
🗓️ Date: July 4, 2025
📍 Venue: Racecourse Rugby Grounds, Colombo
🕒 Kick-off: TBA

Stay tuned for live updates, photos, and post-match coverage on Sri Lankan Sports TV.