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Sri Lanka secured a world cup spot thanks to Nissanka’s ton

Pathum Nissanka’s century and Maheesh Theekshana’s four-for helped Sri Lanka thump Zimbabwe in their second super six games of the ongoing world cup qualifiers worked off at Bulawayo, Zimbabwe on Sunday.
The win saw Dasun Shanaka and co confirmed their tickets to India for the World Cup in October.
Put into bat first the host didn’t have the best of the starts as they were reduced to 30-3 inside the first powerplay.
With Zimbabwe at a spot of bother
In-form Sean Williams (56) and Sikandar Raza (31) however revived their innings with a 68-run fourth-wicket stand.
With Zimbabwe slowly recovering from their shaky start, skipper Dasun Shanaka delivered the all-important breakthrough when he claimed the wicket of his mate Sikandar Raza when he was caught at the boundary line.
After the breakthrough, the Zimbabwe middle and lower-middle-order never recovered as wickets tumbled like nine pins.
Mahesh Theekshana was the architect of Zimbabwe’s collapse as he ended with figures of 4-25.
He claimed the all-important wickets of Sean Williams (56), Ryan Burl (16), L Jonwe (10) and B. Muzarabani (00) to set up an easy win for Sri Lanka. The last seven wickets fell for just 67 runs.
In response to 165, Sri Lanka was led by Pathum Nissanka who made a run-a-ball fifty to seal the match.
He was involved in a 100-run partnership with Dimuth Karunaratne for the first wicket.
Dimuth playing an anchor role went on to score 30 runs before being caught at fine leg in the 19th over.
With the damage already done Nissanka continued to hammer the opposition bowlers all over the park steering Sri Lanka to their total, ably supported by Kusal Mendis who chipped in with unbeaten 25 runs.
Interestingly throughout the qualifying process, no team has scored over 200 runs against Sri Lanka which proves how quality a bowling attack they’ve got.
The islanders who are already booked their tickets to India will meet West Indies in their last outing on Friday (7).
Following the victory Sri Lanka captain Dasun Shanaka said it was crucial for the 1996 winners to be at the sport’s quadrennial showpiece.
“It was a much-needed thing for Sri Lanka to play on that big stage,” said Shanaka. “It’s always tough coming to the qualifiers, but still, if you go through the process and we knew with the team we’ve got, we were going to qualify for the World Cup.”
Zimbabwe skipper Craig Ervine said despite the heavy defeat they would stick to their game plan for Tuesday’s match against Scotland.
“I don’t think we need to prepare any differently from what we have been doing in this tournament [against Scotland],” said Ervine. “We have been playing some very good cricket. Sri Lanka was much better than us today.”
Brief Scores: Zimbabwe 165 in 32.5 overs (San Williams 56, Sikandar Raza 31, Maheesh Theekshana 4/25, Dilshan Madushanka 3/15).
Sri Lanka 169/1 in 33.1 overs (Pathum Nissanka 101 not out).
නිශ්ශංකගේ ශතකය නිසා ශ්රී ලංකාව ලෝක කුසලානයේ ස්ථානයක් තහවුරු කරගනී.
පැතුම් නිශ්ශංකගේ ශතකය සහ මහේෂ් තීක්ෂණගේ අනර්ඝ ක්රිඩා විලාශය හේතුවෙන් සිම්බාබ්වේ හි බුලවායෝ හිදී පැවැත්වෙන ලෝක කුසලාන සුදුසුකම් ලැබීමේ දෙවන සුපිරි හය තරඟවලදී ශ්රී ලංකාව සිම්බාබ්වේ පරාජය කළේය.
ප්රථමයෙන් පන්දුවට පහර දුන් සත්කාරක කණ්ඩායමට පළමු පවර් ප්ලේය තුළදී ඔවුන් ලකුණු 30-3ක් දක්වා අඩු වූ බැවින් හොඳම ආරම්භය නොතිබුණි.
සිම්බාබ්වේ සමඟ කරදරකාරී ස්ථානයක කෙසේ වෙතත් සිවුවැනි කඩුල්ලට ලකුණු 68ක සබඳතාවක් ගොඩනැගූ ෂෝන් විලියම්ස් (56) සහ සිකන්දර් රාසා (31) ඔවුන්ගේ ඉනිම යළි පණ ගැන්වූහ.
සිම්බාබ්වේ පිලේ බිඳවැටුණු ආරම්භයෙන් සෙමෙන් යථා තත්ත්වයට පත්වීමත් සමඟ නායක දසුන් ශානක සිය සගයා වූ සිකන්දර් රාසා හතරේ සීමාවේදී දැවී යන විට ඔහුගේ කඩුල්ල දවාගැනීමත් සමඟින් වැදගත් පෙරළියක් සිදු කළේය.
පෙරළියෙන් පසුව, සිම්බාබ්වේ මැද සහ පහළ මැදපෙළ කිසි විටෙකත් යථා තත්ත්වයට පත් නොවූයේ කඩුලු 9ක් මෙන් කඩා වැටුණු බැවිනි.
මහේෂ් තීක්ෂණ සිම්බාබ්වේ බිඳවැටීමේ නිර්මාපකයා වූ අතර ඔහු ලකුණු 4-25 කින් අවසන් විය.
ඔහු ෂෝන් විලියම්ස් (56), රයන් බර්ල් (16), එල් ජොන්වේ (10) සහ බී. මුසරබානි (00) යන සියලු වැදගත් කඩුලු දවා ගනිමින් ශ්රී ලංකාවට පහසු ජයග්රහණයක් ලබා දීමට සමත් විය. අවසන් කඩුලු 7 බිඳ වැටුණේ ලකුණු 67කට පමණි.
ලකුණු 165ට පිළිතුරු ලෙස පැතුම් නිශ්ශංක විසින් තරගයේ ජයග්රහණය සඳහා ලකුණු 50ක් රැස්කරමින් ශ්රී ලංකාව ඉදිරියෙන් සිටියේය.
ඔහු පළමු කඩුල්ලට දිමුත් කරුණාරත්න සමගින් ලකුණු 100ක සබඳතාවයකට සම්බන්ධ විය.
19 වැනි ඕවරයේදී ෆයින් ලෙග්හිදී දැවී යාමට පෙර දිමුත් නැංගුරමේ භූමිකාවක් ඉටු කරමින් ලකුණු 30ක් ලබා සිටියේය.
මේ වන විටත් සිදුවී ඇති හානියත් සමඟ නිශ්ශංක දිගින් දිගටම උද්යානය පුරා සිටින ප්රතිවාදී පන්දු යවන්නන්ට පහර දෙමින් ශ්රී ලංකාව ඔවුන්ගේ මුළු ලකුණු සංඛ්යාව කරා මෙහෙයවමින් නොදැවී ලකුණු 25ක් ලබා ගත් කුසල් මෙන්ඩිස්ගේ මනා සහයෙනි.
සුදුසුකම් ලැබීමේ ක්රියාවලිය පුරාවටම ශ්රී ලංකාවට එරෙහිව කිසිදු කණ්ඩායමක් ලකුණු 200කට වඩා රැස් කර නොතිබීම සිත්ගන්නා කරුණක් වන්නේ ඔවුන් කෙතරම් ගුණාත්මක පන්දු යැවීමක නිරත වූවාද යන්නයි.
දැනටමත් ඉන්දියාවට යාමට ප්රවේශපත්ර වෙන්කරගෙන සිටින දූපත්වාසීන් සිකුරාදා (7) බටහිර ඉන්දීය කොදෙව් කණ්ඩායම හමුවනු ඇත.
ජයග්රහණයෙන් පසුව ශ්රී ලංකා නායක දසුන් ශානක ප්රකාශ කළේ 1996 ජයග්රාහකයින් ක්රීඩාවේ සිව්වසර ප්රදර්ශන භූමියට පැමිණීම ඉතා වැදගත් බවයි.
“එම විශාල වේදිකාවේ ක්රීඩා කිරීම ශ්රී ලංකාවට ඉතා අවශ්ය දෙයක්,” ශානක පැවසීය. “සුදුසුකම් වටයට පැමිණීම සැමවිටම දුෂ්කර ය, නමුත් තවමත්, ඔබ ක්රියාවලිය හරහා ගියහොත් සහ අප සතුව ඇති කණ්ඩායම සමඟ අපි දැන සිටියහොත්, අපි ලෝක කුසලානයට සුදුසුකම් ලබන්නෙමු.”
සිම්බාබ්වේ නායක ක්රේග් අර්වින් පැවසුවේ දරුණු පරාජයක් ලැබුවද ස්කොට්ලන්තයට එරෙහිව අඟහරුවාදා පැවැත්වෙන තරගය සඳහා ඔවුන්ගේ ක්රීඩා සැලැස්මට ඇලී සිටින බවයි.
“මෙම තරඟාවලියේ [ස්කොට්ලන්තයට එරෙහිව] අප කරමින් සිටි දෙයට වඩා වෙනස් ලෙස සූදානම් විය යුතු යැයි මම නොසිතමි,” අර්වින් පැවසීය. “අපි ඉතා හොඳ ක්රිකට් ක්රීඩා කරනවා. ශ්රී ලංකාව අද අපට වඩා බොහෝ දියුණු විය.
සංක්ෂිප්ත ලකුණු: සිම්බාබ්වේ ඕවර 32.5 කදී 165 (සැන් විලියම්ස් 56, සිකන්දර් රාසා 31, මහේෂ් තීක්ෂණ 4/25, ඩිල්ෂාන් මධුශංක 3/15).
ශ්රී ලංකාව ඕවර 33.1කදී 169/1 (පැතුම් නිශ්ශංක නොදැවී 101).
Cricket
Kamindu Mendis Shines as Sunrisers Hyderabad Break Chepauk Curse, Crush CSK’s Playoff Hopes | IPL 2025
Sri Lankan all-rounder Kamindu Mendis delivered under pressure, helping Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) script a historic first-ever win over Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium during the IPL 2025 season.
Chasing a tricky target of 155, Mendis played a composed and crucial unbeaten knock of 32 off 22 balls, stitching an unbroken 49-run partnership with Nitish Kumar to seal a five-wicket victory with eight balls to spare. His calm presence at the crease when the game was delicately poised underlined his growing stature in T20 cricket.
Earlier, the Chennai Super Kings, once invincible at home, continued their disastrous 2025 campaign — suffering a fourth consecutive home defeat. Batting first, CSK stumbled despite a promising start, collapsing to 154 all out. Dewald Brevis impressed briefly on debut with a quickfire 42 runs, but it was Harshal Patel’s brilliant spell (4 wickets for 28 runs) that broke CSK’s backbone.
For CSK, promising youngster Ayush Mhatre shone early, but a middle-order collapse proved costly. Even skipper M.S. Dhoni’s tactical gamble of giving Sam Curran two overs backfired, as SRH batters capitalized to turn the game.
In the SRH chase, despite early hiccups — losing Abhishek Sharma and Travis Head quickly — Ishan Kishan’s fluent 44 and Kamindu Mendis’ finishing touch ensured Hyderabad stayed alive in the playoff race.
Meanwhile, in the updated IPL 2025 points table, Sunrisers Hyderabad now sits 8th with 6 points, while CSK languishes at the bottom with just 4 points from 9 games, effectively ending their playoff dreams.
Mendis’ all-round contribution, including a key wicket earlier, and his coolness in the chase were pivotal. While Harshal Patel deservedly took the Player of the Match award, Sri Lanka can proudly celebrate Kamindu’s evolving prowess on the IPL stage.
Points Table Update (After SRH vs CSK Match):
- GT, DC, and RCB are leading the race with 12 points each.
- PBKS and MI are close behind with 11 and 10 points.
- CSK and RR are at the bottom with just 4 points, all but knocked out of the playoffs.
News
Kaya Daluwatte and Reshan Algama Shine at 16th Faldo Series Asia Grand Final in Vietnam
Sri Lanka’s promising golf talents Kaya Daluwatte and Reshan Algama showcased their growing international class with stellar performances at the prestigious 16th Faldo Series Asia Grand Final, held at the stunning Laguna Golf Lang Co in Vietnam.
Facing off against the finest junior golfers from the Asia-Pacific region—including representatives from Australia, England, Japan, India, and Wales—both Kaya and Reshan rose to the occasion, underlining Sri Lanka’s emerging strength in the sport.
Kaya Daluwatte delivered one of her career-best performances, finishing as the runner-up in the Girls’ Under-16 category. After three composed rounds, she posted a remarkable final score of even-par 216, highlighted by an impressive 2-under-par finish in the final round. Despite Japan’s Al Goto clinching the title with a score of 213, Kaya’s climb up the leaderboard captured widespread admiration. Her poise, precision, and birdies during the crucial back-nine holes showcased a maturity well beyond her years.
This runner-up finish at one of Asia’s top junior championships marks a historic achievement for Sri Lankan golf, signaling that the nation’s junior golfers are ready to challenge the region’s traditional powerhouses.
In the Boys’ Under-16 category, Reshan Algama also left his mark by securing a strong fourth-place finish with a gross score of 218. Although his final round did not match the brilliance of his earlier efforts, Reshan displayed commendable composure against a highly competitive international field. His consistency across top-level tournaments reflects his rapid development into a serious contender on the global junior golf circuit.
Vietnam’s Tuan Anh Nguyen dominated the Boys’ division, leading from start to finish to claim the title with a superb score of 205. India’s Arshvant Srivastava and Kanav Chauhan finished second and third, with scores of 214 and 216 respectively.
Kaya and Reshan’s performances not only bring pride to Sri Lanka but also signal a bright future for the country’s junior golfing scene on the Asian stage.
Football
SAFF Championship Postponement Exposes Deeper Issues Within FFSL
The much-anticipated SAFF Championship, originally scheduled to take place in Sri Lanka in July 2025, has now been officially postponed to 2026—a move that has raised serious concerns over the competence and credibility of the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL).
According to the SAFF Executive Committee, the decision to delay the tournament stemmed largely from pressure exerted by its marketing partner, Sportfive, which advocated for a home-and-away format to increase commercial value. Furthermore, it is reported that Sportfive preferred the event be hosted in Bangladesh or India, citing better sponsor access and commercial feasibility in those countries if the tournament were to follow a centralized model.
However, beyond external pressure, this development highlights a troubling reality: the FFSL’s inability to effectively organize and defend Sri Lanka’s hosting rights on the international stage. This isn’t merely a scheduling issue—it reflects a deeper pattern of administrative shortcomings, lack of vision, and prioritization of media narratives over tangible development.
As previously reported by Sri Lankan Sports TV, the FFSL continues to focus more on optics and media stunts rather than on the foundational work required to uplift football in the country. The failure to safeguard Sri Lanka’s opportunity to host a major regional tournament not only affects the sport’s growth domestically but also damages the nation’s reputation within South Asian football.
For a federation that has long promised reform and transparency, this latest setback exposes how little progress has actually been made. When commercial partners have more sway than the national football body itself, it’s a clear indication that local football governance is being undermined by weak leadership and poor planning.
This should be a wake-up call—not just for the FFSL, but for every stakeholder invested in the future of Sri Lankan football. The time for slogans and staged announcements is over. Sri Lanka needs action, accountability, and genuine commitment to building a sustainable footballing culture. Until then, headlines like this will only continue to reflect a sport lost in mismanagement.
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