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Dushan Hemantha and Matheesha Pathirana are in line to debut in the first ODI against Afghanistan
Leg spinner Dushan Hemantha and pacer Matheesha Pathirana are likely to debut in the first one-day International debuts when Sri Lanka takes on Afghanistan in the first ODI in Hambantota tomorrow.
Sri Lanka will head to the opening game without their ace spinner Wanindu Hasaranga, who has been ruled out of the first two ODIs in the three-match series due to an injury in his right knee.
Since Wanindu is out of the first two ODI’s Dushan Hemantha could make his international cricket debut.
“Since Wanindu has an injury concern, Dushan Hemantha has a good chance to debut in the first ODI,” hinted Sri Lanka white ball captain Dasun Shanaka.
Dasun also said the inclusion of two senior pros- Dimuth Karunaratne and Angelo Mathews to the squad is a huge boost to the balance of the team and if they are looking for a long innings their contribution will play a huge role.
“Dimuth Karunartne and Angelo Mathews’s inclusion to the squad is a huge boost. If we are to play a long innings their contribution will play a major role. Their inclusion has strengthened the squad,” Dasun said.
The white ball skipper also disclosed the young Malinga-like pacer Matheesha Pathirana will make his debut tomorrow. Matheesha is back in Sri Lanka after a successful stint with Chennai Super Kings in the recently concluded Indian Premier League 2023. He will look to continue his fine form, especially in pace-friendly wickets in Hambanthota.
Afghanistan will engage in three ODIs on 2, 4 and 7 June at the MRIC Stadium in Hambantota.
Afghanistan last toured Sri Lanka for an ODI series in November 2022, when the sides engaged in a competitive battle. Afghanistan stunned Sri Lanka in the first ODI, winning the contest by 60 runs. After a no result in the second contest, the Lankans roared back by winning the third ODI by four wickets and levelling the series.
The series will also mark the return of international men’s cricket in Hambantota, with the venue last hosting an ODI match in February 2020.
දුෂාන් හේමන්ත සහ මතීෂ පතිරණ ඇෆ්ගනිස්තානයට එරෙහි පළමු එක්දින තරගයට එක්වීමට නියමිතයි.
ශ්රී ලංකාව සහ ඇෆ්ගනිස්තානය අතර හෙට හම්බන්තොටදී පැවැත්වෙන පළමු එක්දින තරගයේදී දඟ පන්දු යවන ක්රීඩක දුෂාන් හේමන්ත සහ වේග පන්දු යවන ක්රීඩක මතීෂ පතිරණ පළමු එක්දින ජාත්යන්තර තරගයට සහභාගි වීමට ඉඩ තිබේ.
දකුණු දණහිසේ ආබාධයකට ලක්වීම හේතුවෙන් තරග තුනකින් සමන්විත එක්දින තරගාවලියේ පළමු එක්දින තරග දෙකෙන් ඉවත් කර ඇති ඔවුන්ගේ දඟ පන්දු යවන ක්රීඩක වනිඳු හසරංග නොමැතිව ශ්රී ලංකාව ආරම්භක තරගයට පිවිසෙනු ඇත.
වනිඳු පළමු එක්දින තරග දෙකෙන් ඉවත්ව සිටින බැවින් දුෂාන් හේමන්ත ජාත්යන්තර ක්රිකට් තරගයට පිවිසිය හැකිය.
“වනිඳු ආබාධයකට ලක්ව සිටින නිසා දුෂාන් හේමන්තට පළමු එක්දින තරගයට එක්වීමට හොඳ අවස්ථාවක් තිබෙනවා” යැයි ශ්රී ලංකා සුදු පන්දු නායක දසුන් ශානක ඉඟි කළේය.
ජ්යෙෂ්ඨ ක්රීඩකයින් දෙදෙනෙකු වන දිමුත් කරුණාරත්න සහ ඇන්ජලෝ මැතිව්ස් සංචිතයට ඇතුළත් කිරීම කණ්ඩායමේ සමබරතාවයට විශාල ශක්තියක් බවත් ඔවුන් දිගු ඉනිමක් අපේක්ෂා කරන්නේ නම් ඔවුන්ගේ දායකත්වය විශාල කාර්යභාරයක් ඉටු කරන බවත් දසුන් පැවසීය.
“දිමුත් කරුණාරත්න සහ ඇන්ජලෝ මැතිව්ස් සංචිතයට ඇතුළත් කිරීම විශාල ශක්තියක්. අපි දිගු ඉනිමක් ක්රීඩා කරනවා නම් ඔවුන්ගේ දායකත්වය විශාල කාර්යභාරයක් ඉටු කරනවා. ඔවුන් ඇතුළත් කිරීම සංචිතය ශක්තිමත් කර තිබෙනවා” දසුන් පැවසීය.
වේග පන්දු යවන ක්රීඩක මතීෂ පතිරණ හෙට සිය මංගල තරගයට ක්රීඩා කරන බව ද සුදු පන්දු නායකයා තරුණ මාලිංග හෙළි කළේය. මතීෂ පසුගියදා අවසන් වූ ඉන්දීය ප්රිමියර් ලීග් 2023 තරඟාවලියේදී චෙන්නායි සුපර් කිංග්ස් කණ්ඩායම සමඟ සාර්ථක ක්රීඩා කිරීමෙන් පසු නැවතත් ශ්රී ලංකාවට පැමිණ ඇත.
ඇෆ්ගනිස්තානය ජුනි 2, 4 සහ 7 යන දිනවල හම්බන්තොට MRIC ක්රීඩාංගණයේදී එක්දින තරග තුනකට සහභාගි වීමට නියමිතය.
ඇෆ්ගනිස්ථානය අවසන් වරට ශ්රී ලංකාවේ එක්දින තරඟාවලියක් සඳහා සංචාරය කළේ 2022 නොවැම්බර් මාසයේදී දෙපාර්ශවය තරඟකාරී සටනක නිරත වූ අවස්ථාවේදීය. ශ්රී ලංකාව සහ ඇෆ්ගනිස්තානය අතර පැවති පළමු එක්දින තරගය ලකුණු 60කින් ජය ගැනීමට ඇෆ්ගනිස්තානය සමත් විය. දෙවැනි තරගයේ කිසිදු ප්රතිඵලයක් නොලැබීමෙන් පසු තුන්වැනි එක්දින තරගය කඩුලු 4කින් ජය ගනිමින් තරගාවලිය සම කිරීමට ශ්රී ලංකා ක්රිකට් ක්රීඩකයෝ සමත් වූහ.
මෙම තරඟාවලිය හම්බන්තොට ජාත්යන්තර පිරිමි ක්රිකට් ක්රීඩාවේ පුනරාගමනය ද සනිටුහන් කරනු ඇත, එම ස්ථානය අවසන් වරට 2020 පෙබරවාරි මස ODI තරඟයක් පවත්වනු ලැබේ.
ஆப்கானிஸ்தானுக்கு எதிரான முதல் ஒருநாள் போட்டியில் துஷான் ஹேமந்த மற்றும் மதீஷ பத்திரன ஆகியோர் களமிறங்க உள்ளனர்.
நாளை ஹம்பாந்தோட்டாவில் நடைபெறும் முதல் ஒருநாள் போட்டியில் இலங்கை ஆப்கானிஸ்தானை எதிர்கொள்ளும் போது, லெக் ஸ்பின்னர் துஷான் ஹேமந்த மற்றும் வேகப்பந்து வீச்சாளர் மதீஷ பத்திரனா ஆகியோர் முதல் ஒரு நாள் சர்வதேச அறிமுகத்தில் களமிறங்குவார்கள்.
வலது முழங்காலில் ஏற்பட்ட காயம் காரணமாக மூன்று போட்டிகள் கொண்ட தொடரில் முதல் இரண்டு ஒருநாள் போட்டிகளில் இருந்து விலகியுள்ள இலங்கையின் அதிவேக சுழற்பந்து வீச்சாளர் வனிந்து ஹசரங்க இல்லாமலேயே இலங்கை தொடக்க ஆட்டத்திற்குச் செல்லும்.
வனிந்து முதல் இரண்டு ஒருநாள் போட்டிகளில் விளையாடாததால் துஷான் ஹேமந்த சர்வதேச கிரிக்கெட்டில் அறிமுகமாகலாம்.
“வனிந்துவுக்கு காயம் இருப்பதால், துஷான் ஹேமந்தவுக்கு முதல் ஒருநாள் போட்டியில் களமிறங்குவதற்கான நல்ல வாய்ப்பு உள்ளது,” என்று இலங்கை வெள்ளை பந்து கேப்டன் தசுன் ஷனக சுட்டிக்காட்டினார்.
இரண்டு மூத்த சாதகர்களான திமுத் கருணாரத்ன மற்றும் ஏஞ்சலோ மேத்யூஸ் அணியில் சேர்க்கப்பட்டிருப்பது அணியின் சமநிலைக்கு ஒரு பெரிய ஊக்கமளிப்பதாகவும், அவர்கள் நீண்ட இன்னிங்ஸை எதிர்பார்க்கும் பட்சத்தில் அவர்களின் பங்களிப்பு பெரும் பங்கை வகிக்கும் என்றும் தசுன் கூறினார்.
திமுத் கருணார்த்னே மற்றும் ஏஞ்சலோ மேத்யூஸ் அணியில் சேர்க்கப்பட்டிருப்பது மிகப்பெரிய ஊக்கம். நாம் நீண்ட இன்னிங்ஸ் விளையாட வேண்டும் என்றால் அவர்களின் பங்களிப்பு முக்கிய பங்கு வகிக்கும். அவர்கள் சேர்க்கப்பட்டிருப்பது அணியை பலப்படுத்தியுள்ளது,” என்று தசுன் கூறினார்.
வேகப்பந்து வீச்சாளர் மதீஷா பத்திரனா நாளை தனது முதல் ஆட்டத்தில் களமிறங்குவார் என வெள்ளை பந்து கேப்டன் இளம் மலிங்காவையும் வெளிப்படுத்தினார். சமீபத்தில் முடிவடைந்த இந்தியன் பிரீமியர் லீக் 2023ல் சென்னை சூப்பர் கிங்ஸ் அணியுடன் வெற்றிகரமான ஆட்டத்திற்குப் பிறகு மதீஷா மீண்டும் இலங்கைக்கு திரும்பியுள்ளார். குறிப்பாக ஹம்பாந்தோட்டாவில் வேகப்பந்து வீச்சுக்கு ஏற்ற விக்கெட்டுகளில் அவர் தனது சிறப்பான ஆட்டத்தை தொடர விரும்புவார்.
ஜூன் 2, 4 மற்றும் 7 ஆகிய தேதிகளில் ஹம்பாந்தோட்டாவில் உள்ள எம்ஆர்ஐசி மைதானத்தில் ஆப்கானிஸ்தான் அணி மூன்று ஒருநாள் போட்டிகளில் பங்கேற்கிறது.
ஆப்கானிஸ்தான் கடைசியாக நவம்பர் 2022 இல் ஒருநாள் தொடருக்காக இலங்கைக்கு சுற்றுப்பயணம் செய்தது, அப்போது இரு அணிகளும் போட்டி போரில் ஈடுபட்டன. இலங்கைக்கு எதிரான முதல் ஒருநாள் போட்டியில் ஆப்கானிஸ்தான் அணி 60 ரன்கள் வித்தியாசத்தில் வெற்றி பெற்றது. இரண்டாவது போட்டியில் எந்த முடிவும் எட்டப்படாத நிலையில், மூன்றாவது ஒருநாள் போட்டியில் 4 விக்கெட்டுகள் வித்தியாசத்தில் வெற்றி பெற்று தொடரை சமன் செய்தது இலங்கை அணி.
இந்தத் தொடர் அம்பாந்தோட்டையில் சர்வதேச ஆண்கள் கிரிக்கெட் மீண்டும் தொடங்குவதைக் குறிக்கும், அந்த மைதானம் பிப்ரவரி 2020 இல் கடைசியாக ODI போட்டியை நடத்துகிறது.
Peterite Mayooran Kubheran continued his rapid rise in junior tennis by clinching the Boys’ Under-18 title at the YETI SSC Open Tennis Championship 2026, concluded at the SSC courts.
Kubheran delivered a composed and commanding performance in the final, defeating Rehan Gunawardhane 6–3, 6–2 in straight sets. Displaying maturity beyond his years, the young prospect controlled proceedings from the baseline, combining depth, accuracy, and smart shot selection to keep his opponent under constant pressure. Gunawardhane fought hard, particularly in the opening set, but found it difficult to break through Kubheran’s consistency and court coverage as the match wore on.
The triumph capped off an outstanding fortnight for Kubheran, who had earlier secured the Boys’ Under-16 title at the same tournament. By completing the double across two age categories, he further cemented his reputation as one of Sri Lanka’s most promising junior tennis talents.
Meanwhile, the Women’s Doubles final provided plenty of excitement, with Tuvini de Alwis and Biyanka Acquistapace emerging champions after a hard-fought three-set battle against Gehansa Methnadi and Akesha Silva. De Alwis and Acquistapace edged a tense first-set tie-break 7–6, dropped the second set 4–6, before regrouping strongly to claim the deciding set and the title.
The YETI SSC Open Tennis Championship once again showcased the depth of emerging talent in Sri Lankan tennis, with several young players delivering impressive performances across categories.
CR & FC continue to lead the Sri Lanka Rugby Maliban “A” Division Inter Club League 2025/26 after the completion of Week 11, holding a narrow advantage at the top of the standings as the title race intensifies.
The Red Shirts sit first on the table with 42 points from eight matches, having recorded seven wins and just one defeat. Their consistent performances, combined with a strong defensive record and positive points difference, have kept them just ahead of their closest challengers.
Kandy Sports Club remain firmly in contention, occupying second place with 41 points. The hill capital outfit have matched CR & FC in intensity, losing only once this season, and boast the highest points scored tally so far. With just a single point separating the top two, the championship race remains wide open.
CH & FC sit third with 39 points, maintaining pressure on the leading pair after an impressive run of form. The Maitland Crescent side have shown balance across attack and defence, keeping themselves well within reach of the title fight.
Havelock Sports Club hold fourth place with 34 points, staying in the hunt for a top-four finish. Meanwhile, Air Force SC (25 points) and Police SC (17 points) occupy fifth and sixth positions respectively, both sides still battling to climb the standings as the season progresses.
At the lower end of the table, Army SC (14 points) and Navy SC (12 points) continue to search for consistency, while Sri Lions remain at the bottom with a solitary point after eight matches, enduring a difficult campaign.
With several crucial fixtures still to come, the Maliban “A” Division League promises an exciting run-in, particularly at the top where the margin for error is minimal. As teams push for silverware, playoff positions, and pride, the coming weeks are set to deliver high-intensity rugby across the island.
Sri Lanka’s promising young batter Pavan Rathnayake marked a major personal milestone with his maiden One Day International century, but his effort proved insufficient as England sealed a 2–1 series victory with a 53-run win in the third and final ODI at the R Premadasa International Stadium, Colombo, on Tuesday.
Chasing a daunting target of 358, Sri Lanka’s reply was anchored by the 23-year-old Rathnayake, who produced a composed and courageous 121 off 115 deliveries. Batting at his preferred No.4 position, Rathnayake showed maturity beyond his experience, mixing patience with controlled aggression to keep Sri Lanka in the contest. However, a lack of sustained partnerships at the other end saw the hosts bowled out for 304 in 46.4 overs, with Rathnayake the last man dismissed.
Speaking after the match, Rathnayake said he was pleased to finally convert an opportunity at international level, especially after being entrusted with a role he regularly occupies in domestic cricket.
“This is a position I am comfortable with, and I’ve been waiting for this opportunity,” he said, expressing hope that the innings would mark the beginning of a consistent run at the highest level.
Despite the defeat, Rathnayake remained optimistic about Sri Lanka’s batting depth, explaining that the plan during the chase was to take the game as deep as possible. He admitted, however, that the steady loss of wickets on a batting-friendly surface ultimately tilted the contest in England’s favour.
The innings carried deep personal significance, as Rathnayake dedicated his maiden international century to his late father, who played a key role in his cricketing journey. He reiterated that individual milestones mean little without team success, stressing that his ultimate goal remains contributing to Sri Lanka’s victories.
Earlier, England produced a commanding batting display after being asked to bat first. After early losses of Ben Duckett and Rehan Ahmed, Joe Root and Jacob Bethell rebuilt the innings with a composed partnership, Bethell contributing a well-paced 65. Root then combined with skipper Harry Brook to take the game away from Sri Lanka.
Brook unleashed a blistering unbeaten 136 off just 66 balls, while Root played the anchor role to perfection, finishing unbeaten on 111. England closed on an imposing 357 for 3, capitalising on a flat surface and loose bowling at the death.
Sri Lanka’s bowlers struggled to extract assistance, with Dhananjaya de Silva, Jeffrey Vandersay, and Wanindu Hasaranga managing a wicket apiece.
In response, Pathum Nissanka provided early impetus with a rapid half-century off just 25 balls, but regular breakthroughs prevented Sri Lanka from building momentum, allowing England to maintain control and close out the series.
With the ODI leg concluded, both teams now turn their attention to the three-match T20 International series, which gets underway on Friday in Kandy, as preparations continue for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026.
Kubheran Shines with Boys’ Under-18 Title Triumph
CR & FC Maintain Top Spot as Maliban ‘A’ Division League Heats Up After Week 11
Pavan Pleased with Maiden ODI Hundred as England Clinch Series in Colombo
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