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Royal regain the Rt. Hon D.S. Senanayake Memorial Shield

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Royal College, Colombo registered a memorable 180-run win over S. Thomas’ College in the 144th ‘Battle of the Blues’ annual cricket encounter played for the Rt. Hon. D.S Senanayake Memorial Shield, which concluded on Saturday at the SSC Grounds, Colombo.

On day three the Royalists declared their overnight score setting a target of 342 runs, and in reply, the Thomians had no answers for the Royal dominance as they were bowled out for 161 runs to hand the Royalists a famous win.

The Thomian batters never looked comfortable in the second essay and none of their batters impressed apart from Senesh Hettiarachchi. He was the only batter to post a threat to the Royalists with a watchful 46 runs off 87 deliveries including 7 boundaries. Apart from him, none of the other batters was able to at least go past the 30-run mark.

Senesh and Charuka Peiris (22) looked to steady the Thomian innings at one stage in the chase, but their partnership was cut short when Peiris was bowled by spinner Ramiru Perera.

Adding salt to their wounds, Thomians was struck with a double blow when Akash Fernando walked back to the pavilion for a golden duck to make things worse for the boys from Mt. Lavinia.

With all recognized batters back in the pavilion, Thomians’ hope was all on Senesh Hettiarachchi’s shoulders, but the pressure was too much for him to handle as he was caught at short mid-wicket, and the Thomians were bowled out for 161, as Royal wrapped things up in style to regain the prestigious D.S. Senanayake Shield.

The Royal College bowling was spot on with Sineth Jayawardena, Ramiru Perera and Nethwin Dharmarathne sharing two wickets apiece, while Ranuka Malaviarachchi, Bulan Weerathunga, Sandesh Ramanayaka and Dasis Manchanayake picked up a wicket each.

Earlier, in the second innings, skipper Dasis Manchanayake once again came to the rescue with another quick-fire 57 in 49 balls to steady the Royals’ innings. He was once again well supported by Ramiru Perera who smashed an unbeaten 46 runs.

Brief scores:

Royal: 326-8 d and 168-4 d (Dasis Manchanayake 57, Ramiru Perera 46, Akash Fernando 4-59)

S. Thomas’: 153 and 161 all out (Senesh Hettiarachchi 46, Charuka Peiris 22, Sineth Jayawardena 2-14, Nethwin Dharmarathne 2-27, Ramiru Perera 2-25)

Individual Awards

Best Fielder – Uvindu Weerasekara (RC)

Best Bowler – Akash Fernando (STC)

Best Batter – Ramiru Perera (RC)

Player of the Match – Dasis Manchanayake (RC)

ගරු ඩී.එස්. සේනානායක අනුස්මරණ පලිහ රාජකීයන්ට යළි හිමිවේ

තෝමස් විද්‍යාලයට එරෙහිව කොළඹ රාජකීය විද්‍යාලය 144 වැනි ‘Battle of the Blues’ වාර්ෂික ක්‍රිකට් තරගයෙන් ලකුණු 180 ක අමතක නොවන ජයක් වාර්තා කළේය. ගරු. D.S සේනානායක අනුස්මරණ පළිහ සෙනසුරාදා කොළඹ SSC පිටියේදී අවසන් විය.

තුන්වන දිනයේදී රාජකීය ක්‍රීඩකයින් සිය එක්දින ලකුණු සංඛ්‍යාව ලකුණු 342ක ඉලක්කයක් ලෙස ප්‍රකාශයට පත් කළ අතර, පිළිතුරු ලෙස තෝමියානුවන් ලකුණු 161කට දැවී ගිය අතර රාජකීයයන්ට සුප්‍රසිද්ධ ජයග්‍රහණයක් ලබා දීමට තෝමියානුවන් සමත් විය.

තෝමියන් පිතිකරුවන් දෙවන රචනයේදී කිසිවිටෙක පහසු බවක් නොදැක්වූ අතර සෙනේෂ් හෙට්ටිආරච්චි හැරුණු විට ඔවුන්ගේ කිසිදු පිතිකරුවෙකුගේ සිත් ගත්තේ නැත. ඔහු පන්දු 87කදී හතරේ පහර 7ක් සමඟින් ලකුණු 46ක් ලබා ගනිමින් රාජකීයයන්ට තර්ජනයක් එල්ල කළ එකම පිතිකරුවා විය. ඔහු හැර සෙසු පිතිකරුවන් කිසිවකුට අඩුම තරමින් ලකුණු 30 සීමාව පසු කිරීමටවත් නොහැකි විය.

සෙනේෂ් සහ චාරුක පීරිස් (22) හඹා යාමේ එක් අවස්ථාවක තෝමියන් ඉනිම ස්ථාවර වනු ඇතැයි අපේක්ෂා කළ නමුත් පීරිස් දඟ පන්දු යවන රමිරු පෙරේරාගේ පන්දුවක් හමුවේ දැවී යාමත් සමඟ ඔවුන්ගේ සබඳතාව බිඳ වැටුණි.

ගල්කිස්සේ කොල්ලන්ට තත්ත්වය තවත් නරක අතට හැරීම සඳහා ආකාෂ් ප්‍රනාන්දු රන් තාරාවෙකු සඳහා නැවත මණ්ඩපය වෙත ඇවිද ගිය විට ඔවුන්ගේ තුවාලවලට ලුණු එකතු කරමින් තෝමියානුවන්ට ද්විත්ව පහරක් එල්ල විය.

පිලිගත් පිතිකරුවන් සියල්ලන්ම නැවතත් මණ්ඩපය වෙත පැමිණීමත් සමඟම තෝමියන්ස්ගේ බලාපොරොත්තුව සියල්ල සෙනේෂ් හෙට්ටිආරච්චිගේ උරහිස් මත රැඳුණු නමුත් ෂෝට් මිඩ් විකට් අතට උඩපන්දුවක් දෙමින් තෝමියානුවන් ලකුණු 161කට දැවී ගිය අතර රාජකීය ලෙසින් තෝමියානුවන් දැවී ගියේය. කීර්තිමත් D.S. සේනානායක පළිහ නැවත ලබා ගැනීම සඳහා දේවල් අලංකාර ලෙස ඔතා ඇත.

රාජකීය විද්‍යාලයේ පන්දු යැවීමේදී සිනෙත් ජයවර්ධන, රමිරු පෙරේරා සහ නෙත්වින් ධර්මරත්න කඩුලු 2 බැගින් බෙදී ගිය අතර රනුක මලවිආරච්චි, බුලාන් වීරතුංග, සන්දේශ් රාමනායක සහ දාසිස් මංචනායක කඩුල්ල බැගින් දවා ගත්හ.

මීට පෙර දෙවැනි ඉනිමේදී තවත් වේගවත් පිතිහරඹයක නිරත වූ නායක දාසිස් මංචනායක පන්දු 49කදී ලකුණු 57ක් රැස්කරමින් රාජකීය ඉනිමේ ස්ථාවර තත්ත්වයට පත් විය. ඔහුට නැවත වරක් හොඳ සහයක් ලබාදුන් රමිරු පෙරේරා නොදැවී ලකුණු 46ක් ලබා ගත්තේය.

කෙටි ලකුණු:

රාජකීය: 326-8 සහ 168-4 (දාසිස් මංචනායක 57, රමිරු පෙරේරා 46, ආකාෂ් ප්‍රනාන්දු 4-59)

එස්. තෝමස්: සියලු දෙනා දැවී 153 සහ 161 (සෙනේෂ් හෙට්ටිආරච්චි 46, චාරුක පීරිස් 22, සිනෙත් ජයවර්ධන 2-14, නෙත්වින් ධර්මරත්න 2-27, රමිරු පෙරේරා 2-25)

තනි පුද්ගල සම්මාන

හොඳම පන්දු රකින්නා – උවිඳු වීරසේකර (RC)

හොඳම පන්දු යවන්නා – ආකාෂ් ප්‍රනාන්දු (STC)

හොඳම පිතිකරු – රමිරු පෙරේරා (RC)

තරගයේ වීරයා – දසිස් මංචනායක (RC)

கெளரவ டி.எஸ். சேனாநாயக்க நினைவுக் கேடயத்தை ரோயல் மீண்டும் கைப்பற்றியது

Rt அணிக்காக விளையாடிய 144வது ‘Battle of the Blues’ வருடாந்த கிரிக்கெட் போட்டியில், கொழும்பு ரோயல் கல்லூரி, S. Thomas’ கல்லூரிக்கு எதிராக 180 ரன்கள் வித்தியாசத்தில் மறக்கமுடியாத வெற்றியைப் பதிவு செய்தது. கௌரவ. D.S சேனநாயக்க ஞாபகார்த்த கேடயம், கொழும்பு SSC மைதானத்தில் சனிக்கிழமை நிறைவு பெற்றது.

மூன்றாவது நாளில், ராயல்ஸ்டுகள் தங்கள் ஓவர்நைட் ஸ்கோரை 342 ரன்களை இலக்காக நிர்ணயித்ததாக அறிவித்தனர், பதிலுக்கு, தோமியன்ஸ் ராயல்ஸ்டுகளுக்கு ஒரு பிரபலமான வெற்றியை வழங்க 161 ரன்களுக்கு ஆட்டமிழந்ததால், ராயல் ஆதிக்கத்திற்கு எந்த பதிலும் இல்லை.

தோமியன் பேட்டர்கள் இரண்டாவது கட்டுரையில் ஒருபோதும் வசதியாகத் தோன்றவில்லை, செனேஷ் ஹெட்டியாராச்சியைத் தவிர அவர்களது பேட்ஸ் எவரும் ஈர்க்கவில்லை. 87 பந்துகளில் 7 பவுண்டரிகள் உட்பட 46 ரன்கள் எடுத்து ராயல்ஸ்டுகளுக்கு அச்சுறுத்தலாக இருந்த ஒரே பேட்டர் அவர்தான். இவரைத் தவிர மற்ற வீரர்களால் 30 ரன்களைக் கூட கடக்க முடியவில்லை.

செனேஷ் மற்றும் சாருக பீரிஸ் (22) துரத்தலில் ஒரு கட்டத்தில் தோமியன் இன்னிங்ஸை சீராகப் பார்த்தனர், ஆனால் பீரிஸ் சுழற்பந்து வீச்சாளர் ரமிரு பெரேராவின் பந்துவீச்சில் ஆட்டமிழந்ததால் அவர்களது பார்ட்னர்ஷிப் துண்டிக்கப்பட்டது.

அவர்களின் காயங்களுக்கு உப்பு சேர்த்து, ஆகாஷ் பெர்னாண்டோ மவுண்ட் லவீனியாவைச் சேர்ந்த சிறுவர்களை மோசமாக்குவதற்காக தங்க வாத்துக்காக பெவிலியனுக்கு திரும்பிச் சென்றபோது தோமியன்ஸ் இரட்டை அடியால் தாக்கப்பட்டார்.

அனைத்து அங்கீகரிக்கப்பட்ட துடுப்பாட்ட வீரர்களும் பெவிலியனில் திரும்பிய நிலையில், தோமியன்ஸின் நம்பிக்கை அனைத்தும் செனேஷ் ஹெட்டியாராச்சியின் தோள்களில் இருந்தது, ஆனால் அவர் ஷார்ட் மிட் விக்கெட்டில் கேட்ச் ஆனதால், அவரைக் கையாள முடியாத அழுத்தம் அதிகமாக இருந்தது, மேலும் தோமியன்ஸ் 161 ரன்களுக்கு ஆட்டமிழந்தார். மதிப்புமிக்க டி.எஸ். சேனநாயக்க கேடயத்தை மீண்டும் பெறுவதற்கு பாணியில் விஷயங்களைச் சுற்றிக் கொண்டார்.

ரோயல் கல்லூரி பந்துவீச்சில் சினேத் ஜயவர்தன, ரமிரு பெரேரா மற்றும் நெத்வின் தர்மரத்ன ஆகியோர் தலா இரண்டு விக்கெட்டுகளையும், ரணுக மளவியராச்சி, புலன் வீரதுங்க, சந்தேஷ் ராமநாயக்க மற்றும் தாசிஸ் மஞ்சநாயக்க ஆகியோர் தலா ஒரு விக்கெட்டையும் கைப்பற்றினர்.

முன்னதாக, இரண்டாவது இன்னிங்ஸில், அணித்தலைவர் தாசிஸ் மஞ்சநாயக்க மீண்டும் 49 பந்துகளில் 57 ரன்களை எடுத்து நிலையான ராயல்ஸ் இன்னிங்ஸை மீட்டார். அவருக்கு மீண்டும் ஒருமுறை சிறந்த உறுதுணையாக இருந்த ரமிரு பெரேரா ஆட்டமிழக்காமல் 46 ரன்கள் எடுத்தார்.

சுருக்கமான மதிப்பெண்கள்:

ராயல்: 326-8 டி மற்றும் 168-4 டி (தாசிஸ் மஞ்சநாயக்க 57, ரமிரு பெரேரா 46, ஆகாஷ் பெர்னாண்டோ 4-59)

எஸ். தோமஸ்: 153 மற்றும் 161 ஆல் அவுட் (செனேஷ் ஹெட்டியாராச்சி 46, சாருகா பீரிஸ் 22, சினெத் ஜயவர்தன 2-14, நெத்வின் தர்மரத்னே 2-27, ரமிரு பெரேரா 2-25)

தனிப்பட்ட விருதுகள்

சிறந்த பீல்டர் – உவிந்து வீரசேகர (ஆர்சி)

சிறந்த பந்து வீச்சாளர் – ஆகாஷ் பெர்னாண்டோ (STC)

சிறந்த பேட்டர் – ரமிரு பெரேரா (ஆர்சி)

ஆட்ட நாயகன் – தாசிஸ் மஞ்சநாயக்க (RC)

Athletics

SLA Secretary Resigns Just Weeks After Appointment

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Madhawa Bandara Senarath has stepped down from his role as Secretary of Sri Lanka Athletics (SLA), only about a month after assuming office. His resignation was submitted shortly before the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, bringing an abrupt end to his brief tenure.

Sources indicate that internal disagreements within the newly appointed executive committee played a key role in his decision. The dispute is believed to have centered on the selection process for the National Junior Team set to compete at the upcoming Asian Junior Championship.

Sri Lanka Athletics is scheduled to hold its first executive committee meeting after the New Year on April 21. During this meeting, an acting secretary is expected to be appointed to temporarily fill the position. A permanent replacement will later be chosen at a special general meeting.

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Cricket

Chamari Stays Grounded as Sri Lanka Chase Crucial Points in Bangladesh

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Sri Lanka Women’s captain Chamari Athapaththu is blocking out the noise around her future and locking into the present as her team prepares for a high-stakes tour of Bangladesh, where World Cup qualification points and momentum are firmly on the line.

Even as conversations about how long she might continue in international cricket gather pace, Chamari is keeping her approach measured. A recent discussion with the new head coach included a request for her to extend her career, but the skipper is not ready to look that far ahead.

“He spoke to me about continuing for another one or two years, but I prefer to take it step by step,” she said before the team’s departure. “My focus is on staying fit and performing. I don’t want to think too much about the future when there’s so much to do right now.”

What lies directly ahead is a six-match series three ODIs in Rajshahi followed by three T20Is in Sylhet with the 50-over games carrying added weight. Sri Lanka are firmly in the race for automatic qualification to the next ICC Women’s World Cup, and the points available in Bangladesh could prove decisive.

“These matches are very important for us,” Chamari said. “If we can secure those ODI points, it gives us a direct path to the World Cup. The team is in a good space mentally, and we’re confident about what we can achieve.”

That confidence will be tested early, not just by the conditions but also by changes in the lineup. Young opener Vishmi Gunaratne has been ruled out through injury, forcing a reshuffle at the top of the order. Chamari admitted the absence is significant but believes it opens the door for another player to step in.

“Vishmi has been a key player for us, so it’s definitely a loss,” she said. “But Hasini has earned this chance. She’s been performing consistently in domestic matches and other tournaments, so now it’s about taking that next step.”

There is also a personal fitness concern hovering over the captain herself. Chamari is recovering from a hand injury that required nine stitches, leaving her availability for the opening matches uncertain.

“I’m still working on my recovery, and we’ll have to assess things day by day,” she said. “Hopefully I can be ready, but we won’t rush it.”

Despite these setbacks, the mood within the squad remains optimistic, helped in part by a fresh approach from the new coaching staff. Since taking over after the West Indies series, the head coach has placed a clear emphasis on sharpening Sri Lanka’s power-hitting ability an area Chamari admits needed attention.

“With big tournaments coming up, we identified power hitting and overall batting strength as areas to improve,” she explained. “We’ve been working hard on that, and also on raising our fielding standards.”

Beyond immediate results, Chamari sees encouraging signs in the wider development of the women’s game back home. The rise of younger players, particularly at Under-19 level, has added depth and energy to the system.

“It’s great to see so many young girls coming into the game and performing well,” she said. “Women’s cricket in Sri Lanka is growing, and a lot of people deserve credit for that from the board to the selectors and former players.”

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News

Josephian Cycle Parade 2026 to Ride Forward with Sustainability and Purpose

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In response to the ongoing fuel challenges facing the country, the organizing committee of St. Joseph’s College, Colombo 10 has taken a forward-thinking and environmentally conscious by transforming its long-standing vehicle parade into a more sustainable and engaging event. This year, the cherished tradition returns in a new form as the Josephian Cycle Parade 2026, promoting eco-friendly practices while preserving its proud legacy.

The Josephian Vehicle Parade Committee officially announced the event, which is expected to bring together Josephians, well-wishers, and the wider community in a vibrant celebration of unity, tradition, and social responsibility.

Over the years, the parade has grown into a signature event, strengthening bonds among past and present Josephians while serving as a platform to support meaningful causes. The 2026 cycle parade promises an energetic showcase of creativity and participation, coupled with impactful fundraising and awareness initiatives.

The organizing committee also revealed strong corporate backing for the event. CK Orbits – Dubai has joined as the Main Sponsor, while Asha Security and Soqka Batik will serve as Event Partners.

Gold Sponsors for the event include IBFS (Pvt) Ltd, Dastol Motors Lanka, Kobra Energy Drink, Coco Varenda Restaurants, Mind Three Engineering (Pvt) Ltd, Master Mind Developers (Pvt) Ltd, Fortune Films, Scan Me, and Wickey Ceylon (Pvt) Ltd.

Silver Partners supporting the initiative are Abanchy (Pvt) Ltd, Sensory Indulgences, U.B. Perera & Company, Apartner, Thilakawardhana Group of Companies, Cannys Bakers & Restaurants, St. John’s Catering, and Fortune Studios.

The involvement of these organizations reflects a shared commitment to making a meaningful impact beyond business, with a focus on uplifting communities and supporting social causes.

Proceeds and efforts from the Josephian Cycle Parade 2026 will go towards the “Break the Silence” initiative, specifically funding a Smart Board Donation Project for the School for the Deaf and Blind in Ratmalana. This project aims to enhance learning experiences through modern technology, empowering students and creating lasting positive change.

Organizers emphasize that the event is more than just a parade it is a movement promoting sustainability, unity, and social responsibility.

The committee extended heartfelt gratitude to all sponsors, partners, and supporters for their invaluable contributions and expressed confidence in delivering a memorable and impactful event for all involved.

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