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Heartbreak loss for Sri Lanka at the hands of Afghanistan

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Emerging Asia Cup 2023

Sri Lanka’s emerging team witnessed a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of Afghanistan in the sixth match of the ongoing emerging Asia Cup worked off at CCC on Saturday (16).

Opting to bowl first didn’t work out well for the Lankans, as Afghanistan successfully posted a competitive total of 252/9 in their allotted 50 overs.

Riaz Hassan was the highlight of their innings with a stunning 82 runs off 104 deliveries while Noor Ali Zadran also made a valuable contribution with 53 runs off 62 balls.

In the bowling front, Chamika Karunaratne picked three wickets, while Lahiru Samarakoon and Dushan Hemantha chipped in with two scalps each.

In reply, the host was off to a shaky start to their innings when they lost their opener Avishka Fernando for a duck.

Despite a poor start, wicketkeeper batter Minod Bhanuka revived their innings with a mature knock of 119 runs off 103 deliveries to take Sri Lank close to a victory.

Unfortunately, lack of support from the other end saw the islanders finish on the losing as Sri Lanka fell short of the target in the end, losing all their wickets for 241 runs in 38.5 overs.

Ibrahim Abdulrahimzai was the pick of the bowler for Afghanistan, bagging an impressive four wickets.

Minod Bhanuka was awarded the Player of the Match award for his outstanding century.

ඇෆ්ගනිස්තානය අතින් ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට හද කම්පා කරවන පරාජයක්

නැගී එන ආසියානු කුසලානයේ හයවැනි තරගය සෙනසුරාදා (16දා) CCC හිදී ආරම්භ වූ අතර ශ්‍රී ලංකා නැඟී එන කණ්ඩායම ඇෆ්ගනිස්තානය අතින් හද කම්පා කරවන සුළු පරාජයක් අත්කර ගත්තේය.

ඇෆ්ගනිස්තානය තම නියමිත පන්දුවාර 50 තුළදී ලකුණු 252/9ක තරඟකාරී මුළු ලකුණු සංඛ්‍යාවක් සාර්ථකව වාර්තා කළ බැවින් පළමුවෙන් පන්දු යැවීමට තේරීම ලංකා කණ්ඩායමට එතරම් සාර්ථක වූයේ නැත.

රියාස් හසන් පන්දු 104 කදී ලකුණු 82 ක් රැස්කරමින් ඔවුන්ගේ ඉනිමේ විශේෂත්වය විය.

පන්දු යැවීමේ පෙරමුණේ චාමික කරුණාරත්න කඩුලු 3ක් ද, ලහිරු සමරකෝන් සහ දුෂාන් හේමන්ත කඩුලු 2 බැගින් ද බිඳ දැමූහ.

පිළිතුරු ඉනිම ක්‍රීඩා කළ සත්කාරකයන්ගේ ආරම්භක පිතිකරු අවිශ්ක ප්‍රනාන්දු කඩුල්ල මුවා කිරීමේ වරදට දැවී යාමත් සමඟින් ඔවුන්ගේ ඉනිමේ ආරම්භය බිඳ වැටුණි.

ආරම්භය අසාර්ථක වුවද කඩුලු රකින පිතිකරු මිනෝද් භානුක පන්දු 103කදී ලකුණු 119ක් ලබා ගනිමින් ශ්‍රී ලංකා කණ්ඩායම ජයග්‍රහණය කරා රැගෙන යාමට ඔවුන්ගේ ඉනිම යළි පණ ගැන්වීය.

අවාසනාවන්ත ලෙස අනෙක් අන්තයෙන් සහය නොලැබීම හේතුවෙන් ශ්‍රී ලංකා ක්‍රීඩකයින් පරාජයට පත් වූ අතර අවසානයේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා කණ්ඩායම පන්දුවාර 38.5කදී සියලු දෙනා දැවී ලකුණු 241කට දැවී ගියේය.

ඇෆ්ගනිස්තානය වෙනුවෙන් පන්දු යැවීමේ දී ඉබ්‍රාහිම් අබ්දුල්රහම්සායි විශිෂ්ට පන්දු යැවීමක නිරත වෙමින් කඩුලු 4ක් දවා ගැනීමට සමත් විය.

මිනෝද් භානුකගේ විශිෂ්ට ශතකය වෙනුවෙන් තරගයේ වීරයා සම්මානය හිමිවිය.

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Sri Lanka Rugby Appoints Thierry Janeczek as Head Coach

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Sri Lanka Rugby has confirmed the appointment of former France international and seasoned rugby sevens coach Thierry Janeczek on a six-month contract to lead the national sevens team in preparation for the Asian Games in Aichi, Nagoya later this year.

Janeczek, who arrives in Colombo on March 20, will observe the two legs of the BogoLiv Union Pay International SLR Sevens Series before returning in April to formally begin his coaching programme. His initial contract runs for six months, with the possibility of extension based on the team’s performance at the Asian Games.

At 66, Janeczek brings decades of experience to the role. A former flanker with three caps for France, he made his mark in the sevens format, representing his country at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in 1993. He later coached the French national sevens team from 1996 to 2010, guiding them through more than 100 international tournaments and securing notable victories, including France’s first-ever international final win at the Paris Sevens in 2005.
His coaching résumé includes developing over 50 international players, training more than 100 certified coaches, and achieving Olympic success by leading France’s U18 team to gold at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China.

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Cricket

Inquiry Launched Over Bloomfield’s Controversial Declaration

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Sri Lanka Cricket has moved swiftly to launch an inquiry into Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club’s declaration during their Major Super Eight encounter against Moors Sports Club at Colts Grounds. The decision, which has been branded “unsporty” by critics, saw Bloomfield declare at 239 for 6 despite trailing on first innings, leaving Moors a modest chase of 147 runs. Moors completed the task comfortably, winning by four wickets in just 33 overs and reclaiming their place at the top of the table.

The declaration has raised serious questions about the spirit of competition, prompting SLC to summon captains, coaches, managers, and players from both sides for an official hearing this evening. At the heart of the probe lies a crucial issue: was Bloomfield’s move a bold tactical gamble or a breach of cricketing integrity?

With domestic cricket’s credibility now under the spotlight, the outcome of this inquiry could have significant consequences for the game in Sri Lanka, setting a precedent for how declarations and match strategies are judged in the future.

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Cricket

Royal–Thomian One-Day Clash Moved from Night to Day to Counter Fuel Crisis

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The Organizing Committee of the 49th Mustangs Trophy, the prestigious Royal‑Thomian One‑Day Cricket Encounter, has announced a significant change to this year’s fixture. The match, scheduled for 28th March 2026, will now be played as a day event instead of the originally planned day‑night format.

This decision comes in response to the ongoing global fuel crisis, with organizers emphasizing the importance of reducing energy consumption and standing in solidarity with the wider public. By shifting to a daytime schedule, the committee aims to minimize the additional fuel demands typically associated with floodlit matches, reflecting a strong commitment to social responsibility and national interest.

Guidance for this move was provided by the Heads of Royal College and S. Thomas’ College, and the change has been formally endorsed by the 147th Royal‑Thomian Joint Match Organising Committee. Both schools’ Old Boy fraternities, along with sponsors, have expressed full support for the adjustment, underscoring the unity and shared responsibility that define this historic encounter.

The Joint Committee reaffirmed that while the format has changed, the essence of the Mustangs Trophy remains untouched.

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