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Saud Shakeel’s double ton put Pakistan in the driving seat at the stumps on day 3

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Saud Shakeel’s brilliant double century has put Pakistan in a brilliant position against Sri Lanka at the stumps on Day 3 of the first Test in Galle.

Shakeel scored an unbeaten 208* as Pakistan reached 461 in the first innings.

Pakistan started the Day with Agha Salman and Saud Shakeel at the crease after ending Day 2 with a crucial partnership. They extended it further and at a good rate as well. Shakeel registered a fine hundred but they lost Salman in the same over who missed out on his century. However, that did not affect Shakeel one bit as he went on to build up two more big stands, one with Nauman Ali of 52 runs and then a huge one of 94 with Naseem Shah who showed great resistance which put the hosts on the back foot as they conceded a massive lead. Shakeel batted almost throughout the Day and completed his maiden double-hundred as well.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, will be very disappointed with their bowling effort. Galle is a ground where their spinner has a lot to say but that was not the case on day 3. They were not able to pick up wickets at regular intervals and let the visitors get away. It was the same old story for them as they struggled to get through the lower middle order as the last five wickets for Pakistan cost them 360 runs which is a lot. Their catching was poor as well as they dropped Saud Shakeel twice which has made a big impact in this Test. However, Ramesh Mendis was the pick of the bowlers and took a five-for as they managed to bowl out visitors in the last session.

Sri Lanka in their second innings, reached 14/0 at Stumps, trailing Pakistan by 135 runs. Earlier in the first innings Pakistan bundled out Sri Lanka for 312 before the lunch was taken on Day 2.

The match will continue today for day 4.

සවුද් ශකීල්ගේ ද්විත්ව ශතකයෙන් පාකිස්තානයට තෙවන දිනයේ දි වැඩි ගෞරව.

සවුද් ශකීල්ගේ විශිෂ්ට ද්විත්ව ශතකය හේතුවෙන් ගාල්ලේදී පැවැත්වෙන පළමු ටෙස්ට් තරගයේ 3 වන දිනය වන විට ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට එරෙහිව පාකිස්තානු පළමු ඉනිම ඉහළ මට්ටමකට ගෙන ඒමට සමත් විය.

ශකීල් නොදැවී ලකුණු 208*ක් ලබා ගත් අතර පාකිස්තාන පළමු ඉනිම ලකුණු 461කට ළඟා විය.

පාකිස්තානය දිනය ආරම්භ කළේ ආගා සල්මාන් සහ සවුද් ශකීල් දෙවැනි දිනය නිමා කිරීමෙන් පසු තීරණාත්මක සබඳතාවයක් සමඟින් ක්‍රීඩා කරමිනි. ඔවුන් එය තව දුරටත් දිගු කළ අතර හොඳ වේගයකින්ද විය. ශකීල් ශතකයක් වාර්තා කළ නමුත් ඔහුට එම ඕවරයේදීම සල්මාන් අහිමි වූ අතර ඔහුගේ ශතකය අහිමි විය. කෙසේ වෙතත්, ෂකීල්ට එය නොතකා තවත් සබඳතාවයක් ගොඩනැගූ අතර, එකක් නවමන් අලි ලකුණු 52 කින් සහ පසුව ලකුණු 94 න් දැවැන්ත සබඳතාවයක්න සීම් ෂා සමඟින් ගොඩනැගුවේය. ඔවුන්ගේ මනා සහයෝගයෙන් ශකීල් දවස පුරා පාහේ පන්දුවට පහර දුන් අතර ඔහුගේ මංගල ද්විත්ව ශතකයද සම්පූර්ණ කළේය.

අනෙක් අතට ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ඔවුන්ගේ පන්දු යැවීමේ උත්සාහය ගැන දැඩි කලකිරීමකට පත්වනු ඇත. ගාල්ල යනු ඔවුන්ගේ දඟ පන්දු යවන්නන්ට කීමට බොහෝ දේ ඇති පිටියක් වන නමුත් 3 වන දින එය එසේ නොවීය. ඔවුන්ට නියමිත කාල පරතරයන්හිදී කඩුලු ලබා ගැනීමට නොහැකි විය. පාකිස්තානය වෙනුවෙන් අවසන් කඩුලු 5 දැවී ලකුණු 360ක් වැය වූ බැවින් පහළ මැදපෙළ පසුකර යාමට ඔවුන් දැරූ උත්සාහය ඔවුන්ටද පරණ කතාවම විය. ඔවුන්ගේ උඩපන්දුව දුර්වල වූ අතර ඔවුන් සවුද් ශකීල් දෙවරක්ම දවා ගැනීමට වූ අවස්තා මගහැරී ගිය අතර එය මෙම ටෙස්ට් තරගයට විශාල බලපෑමක් කර ඇත. කෙසේ වෙතත්, රමේෂ් මෙන්ඩිස් පන්දු යවන්නන්ගේ තේරීම වූ අතර අවසන් සැසියේදී කඩුළු දවාලීමට ඔහු සමත් වූ හෙයින් කඩුලු 5ක් ද ලබා ගත්තේය.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සිය දෙවැනි ඉනිමේදී පාකිස්තානයට වඩා ලකුණු 135ක් පසුපසින් සිටිමින් තරගය නතර කරන විට ලකුණු 14/0ක් ලබා සිටියේය. දෙවැනි දිනයට දිවා ආහාරය ගැනීමට පෙර පාකිස්තානය පළමු ඉනිමේදී ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ලකුණු 312 කට දැවී ගියේය.

තරගය අද 4 වැනි දිනයටත් පැවැත්වේ.

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‘Super Fighters’ Chess Big Match Set to Bring Three Schools Together

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The annual ‘Super Fighters’ Chess Big Match, a unique triangular chess tournament featuring
C.W.W. Kannangara Central College – Matugama,
Taxila Central College – Horana, and
Ananda Sastralaya National School – Matugama,
is set to take place in the coming days.

The official media briefing for the tournament was held under the patronage of the Matugama Zonal Deputy Director of Education, Chandima Priyadarshani, along with the principals of the three participating schools and the Secretary of the Kalutara District Chess Association, Sameera Dissanayake.

Having already secured the title on the previous two occasions, Taxila Central College, Horana, will enter the competition as the defending champions. Meanwhile, this year’s tournament will be hosted by C.W.W. Kannangara Central College, Matugama.

All three schools are expected to field highly competitive teams, featuring internationally rated players as well as several athletes who have represented Sri Lanka at international chess tournaments.

The primary objectives of the tournament are to popularize the “Big Match” concept in school chess, identify emerging talent, and strengthen the spirit of camaraderie among the three institutions.

With growing interest in school-level chess, the ‘Super Fighters’ tournament is expected to be a thrilling and high-quality contest, showcasing the next generation of Sri Lanka’s chess talent.

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Bhanuka Rajapaksa sends legal notice to actress Harshi Rasanga over gold chain dispute

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Sri Lanka cricketer Bhanuka Rajapaksa has issued a Letter of Demand (LOD) to actress Harshi Rasanga, accusing her of making false and misleading statements on social media following recent court proceedings.

According to Rajapaksa’s legal representatives, the actress had informed court that the gold chain at the center of the dispute had been pawned. However, they claim she later contradicted this statement publicly, prompting the cricketer to initiate legal action.

The controversy revolves around a gold chain valued at over Rs. 900,000. Rajapaksa alleges that the chain had been borrowed by Rasanga and pawned without his knowledge or consent.
Rasanga was arrested by the Sri Lanka Police’s Thalangama division and later produced before the Kaduwela Magistrate’s Court, where she was granted bail on two sureties of Rs. 500,000 each.

During the court hearing, the defence stated that the chain had indeed been pawned and indicated that steps could be taken to redeem and return it. However, speaking to the media afterward, Rasanga claimed that the chain had been given to her as a gift during a personal relationship.

The court has directed Thalangama Police to take custody of the gold chain and present it at the next hearing, which is scheduled for April 22.

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Cricket

Pathum Nissanka set to open alongside KL Rahul for Delhi Capitals opener

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Delhi Capitals are set to kick off their IPL 2026 campaign with a fresh opening combination, as Sri Lanka’s Pathum Nissanka is likely to partner India star KL Rahul at the top of the order.

The Capitals face Lucknow Super Giants in their opening match today at the Ekana Cricket Stadium B Ground in Lucknow, and all eyes will be on how the new-look batting lineup shapes up. While Rahul’s role as opener is confirmed, the team management has been weighing their options for the second slot, with Prithvi Shaw and Abhishek Porel also in contention.

However, indications suggest that Nissanka has edged ahead in the race, with the franchise keen to utilize his consistency and ability to anchor innings in the powerplay. His calm approach at the crease could complement Rahul’s experience, giving Delhi a balanced start at the top.

The Capitals have also bolstered their middle order with the inclusion of David Miller, who adds firepower alongside fellow South African Tristan Stubbs. The duo is expected to provide the late-innings acceleration that Delhi often lacked in previous seasons.

Despite missing Australian pacer Mitchell Starc for the opening fixture due to injury, Delhi still boast a formidable bowling attack. Captain Axar Patel will lead from the front with his all-round abilities, while the spin department is strengthened by the ever-reliable Kuldeep Yadav.
In the pace department, South Africa’s Lungi Ngidi brings experience and variation, having impressed with his clever change of pace in recent T20 competitions. Meanwhile, left-arm seamer T Natarajan returns fully fit after a lengthy injury layoff, adding further depth to the attack.

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