News
Star Garment won Honda Trophy – MCA G Division 25 over League Tournament 2023

Right-arm medium-fast bowler, Nimantha Perera with a hat-trick of wickets guided Star Garment (Pvt.) Ltd Katunayake to an exiting two (02) wickets win, with three (03) balls to spare, over Kelani Cables PLC in the 12th Stafford Motor Co. (Pvt) Ltd sponsored, “Honda” Trophy – MCA G division 25 over League Tournament 2023 final concluded on Saturday, 05th August at the MCA grounds.
Nimantha Perera, who also performed with the bat, opening the batting and scoring 20 runs in 19 balls, inclusive of two sixes and a four was picked as the man of the match by Match Referee, USC Perera.
Kelani Cables, sent into bat got off to a solid start, their openers Risith Ishara (51 in 52 balls, inclusive of six and six fours.) and Tharusha Nethsara (38 in 47 balls, inclusive of 04 fours) putting on 80 runs in 80 balls: one drop batsman, Lahiru Jayasuriya’s contribution of 34 runs in 24 balls with one six and 04 fours helped to step up the total to 133 for 3 in 20.5 overs.
As Nimantha Perera was brought back into the attack in the 21st over, Kelani Cable lost their grip losing the rest of their 07 wickets, being all out for 160 runs in 25 overs.
Nimantha Perera (04 for 35 in 05 overs) performed his hat-trick bagging the vital wickets of Risith Ishara, Lahiru Jayasuriya and Thilina Dilshan (00).
Star Garments chasing a victory target of 161 runs in 25 overs (RPO 6.44) was immensely inspired by their course by the 55 runs stand for the third wicket in 49 balls by Savindu Perera (Run a ball 23 runs inclusive of a six and a four) and Chathuranga Dilshan (31 runs in 32 balls with two sixes and three fours).
As the score stood 139 for 5 in 20.4 overs, Star Garment needing 22 runs in 28 balls, pacemen, Mohomed Azeem (04 for 20 in 05 overs) coming back his second spell struck like lighting getting three quick wickets to change the scoreboard to 151 for 8 in 23.4 overs.
Star Garments faced the last over needing 08 runs to win which was bowled by Thilina Dilshan.
Kanishka Gamage batting at no 07 (18 not out in 14 balls with one four) kept his nerve as he scored the required 08 runs by himself as he took Star Garment over the line with three balls to spare.
The other their special awards winners were:
- Best Bowler – Mas Active Trading, right arm medium pace bowler, Pasindu Wijesinghe (07 matches, 30.4 overs, 153 runs, 22 wickets)
- Best Batsman – Amana Banks right-hand batsman, Rikas Jawfer (07 innings, 369 runs, 2 not outs with 01 century and 03 Half Centuries)
- Man of the Series – Zillione Systems Solutions (Pvt) Ltd, all-rounder Sanka Peiris (05 innings, 334 runs with 01 century and 02 half centuries and 10 wickets for 106 runs)
Awards were given away by the Chief Guest, Director/Chief Operating Officer, Charaka Perera and Guest of Honor, General Manager Administration Damitha Jayasundara (Both from Stafford Motor Co. (Pvt.) Ltd), along with the MCA officials, Nalin Wickramasinghe, President, Mahesh de Alwis Snr. Vice President and Lakmal De Silva, Chairman Tournament Committee.
Chief Scorers:
Kelani Cables PLC: 160 all out in 25 overs (Risith Ishara 51, Tharusha Nethsara 38, Lahiru Jayasuroya 34, Nimantha Perera 4 for 35, Viraj Jayamaha 2 for 36)
Star Garment (Pvt.) Ltd: 161/8 in 214.3 overs (Nimantha Perera 20, Isuru Abeygunawardene 16, Savindu Perera 23, Chathuranga Dilshan 31, Ashan Nimantha 19, Vinila Perera 17, Kanishka Gamage 18 not out, Mohomad Azeem 4 for 20, Dinuka Anupamal 2 for 19)
ස්ටාර් ගාමන්ට් කණ්ඩායම හොන්ඩා කුසලානය -MCA G division 25 ලීග් තරඟාවලිය 2023 ජයගනී.
දකුණත් මධ්යම වේග පන්දු යවන ක්රීඩක නිමන්ත පෙරේරා කඩුලු ත්රිත්වයක් සමගින් ස්ටාර් ගාමන්ට් (පෞද්ගලික) සීමාසහිත කටුනායක පිලට පන්දු 3ක් (03)ක් ඉතිරිව තිබියදී කඩුලු දෙකේ (02) ජයග්රහණයක් කැලණි කේබල්ස් PLC පිලට එරෙහිව ලබා දුන්නේය. 12th Stafford Motor Co. (Pvt) Ltd අනුග්රහය දක්වන, “Honda” කුසලානය – MCA G Division 25 වෙනි ලීග් තරඟාවලිය 2023 අවසන් තරඟය අගෝස්තු 05 වන සෙනසුරාදා MCA ක්රීඩාංගණයේදී නිමාවට පත් විය.
පිත්තෙන් ද දස්කම් දැක්වූ නිමන්ත පෙරේරා පන්දු 19කදී හයේ පහර 2ක් සහ හතරේ පහරක් සමඟින් ලකුණු 20ක් රැස්කරමින් ලකුණු 20ක් රැස්කරමින් තරගයේ වීරයා ලෙස තරග තීරක යූ.එස්.සී.පෙරේරා විසින් තෝරා ගන්නා ලදී.
පිතිකරණයට යවන ලද කැලණි කේබල්ස් කණ්ඩායම සාර්ථක ආරම්භයක් ලබා ගත් අතර, ඔවුන්ගේ ආරම්භක පිතිකරුවන් වන රිසිත් ඉෂාර (පන්දු 52 කදී හයේ සහ හතරේ හයේ පහර 51 ක්) සහ තරුෂ නෙත්සර (පන්දු 47 කදී හතරේ පහර 04 ක් ඇතුළුව 38) ලකුණු 80 ක් රැස් කළහ. එක් පිතිකරුවෙකු වූ ළහිරු ජයසූරිය පන්දු 24කදී එක් හයේ පහරක් සහ හතරේ පහර 04ක් සමඟින් ලකුණු 34ක් රැස්කරමින් මුළු ලකුණු සංඛ්යාව ඕවර 20.5කදී කඩුලු 3කට ලකුණු 133ක් දක්වා ඉහළ නැංවීමට ඉවහල් විය.
21 වැනි ඕවරයේදී නිමන්ත පෙරේරා යළිත් ප්රහාරයට ගෙන ඒමත් සමඟම කැලණි කේබල් පිලේ ග්රහණය ගිලිහී ගියේ ඕවර 25කදී සියලු දෙනා දැවී ලකුණු 160කට ඔවුන්ගේ ඉතිරි කඩුලු 07 දැවී යමිනි.
රිසිත් ඉෂාර, ළහිරු ජයසූරිය සහ තිළිණ ඩිල්ෂාන් (00)ගේ වැදගත් කඩුලු දවාලීමට නිමන්ත පෙරේරා (ඕවර 05 කදී ලකුණු 35 ට 04) සිය ත්රිත්ව ත්රිත්වය ඉටු කළේය.
ඕවර 25කදී ලකුණු 161ක ජයග්රාහී ඉලක්කයක් හඹාගිය ස්ටාර් ගාමන්ට් පිලට (ආර්පීඕ 6.44) සවිඳු පෙරේරා තෙවැනි කඩුල්ලට පන්දු 49කදී ලකුණු 55ක සබඳතාවයක් (පන්දුවක් හයේ පහරක් සහ හතරේ පහරක් සමඟින් ලකුණු 23ක් ලබාගනිමින් ලකුණු 23ක් ලබාගත්තේය. ) සහ චතුරංග ඩිල්ෂාන් (පන්දු 32 කදී හයේ පහර 2 ක් සහ හතරේ පහර 3 ක් සමගින් ලකුණු 31)
ලකුණු පුවරුව ඕවර 20.4කදී කඩුලු 5කට ලකුණු 139ක්ව තිබියදී ස්ටාර් ගාමන්ට් පිලට පන්දු 28කදී ලකුණු 22ක් අවශ්යව තිබියදී වේගපන්දු යවන්නන් වූ මොහොමඩ් අසීම් (ඕවර 05කදී ලකුණු 20කට කඩුලු 04ක්) සිය දෙවැනි ඉනිම ක්රීඩා කරමින් වේගවත් කඩුලු 3ක් දැවී ලකුණු පුවරුව 151ට වෙනස් කළේය. ඕවර 23.4කදී ලකුණු 8කට.
ජයග්රහණය සඳහා ලකුණු 08ක් අවශ්යව තිබියදී ස්ටාර් ගාමන්ට් පිලට තිළිණ ඩිල්ෂාන් යැවූ අවසන් ඕවරයට මුහුණ දුන්නේය.
කණිෂ්ක ගමගේ නොදැවී ලකුණු 07 (පන්දු 14 කදී හතරේ පහර 1 ක් සමග නොදැවී 18) පිතිකරණයේ යෙදී සිටි අතර ඔහු විසින්ම අවශ්ය ලකුණු 08 ලබා ගත් අතර ඔහු පන්දු 3 ක් ඉතිරිව තිබියදී ස්ටාර් ගාමන්ට් සීමාව ඉක්මවා ගියේය.
එහි අනෙක් විශේෂ සම්මානලාභීන් වූයේ:
- හොඳම පන්දු යවන්නා – මාස් ඇක්ටිව් ටේ්රඩින්, දකුණත් මධ්යම වේග පන්දු යවන්නා, පසිඳු විජේසිංහ (තරග 07, ඕවර 30.4, ලකුණු 153, කඩුලු 22)
- හොඳම පිතිකරු – අමානා බැංකු දකුණත් පිතිකරු, රිකාස් ජවුෆර් (07 ඉනිම, ලකුණු 369, ශතක 01ක් සහ අර්ධ ශතක 03ක් සමගින් නොදැවී 2)
- තරගාවලියේ වීරයා – සිලියොන් සිස්ටම්ස් සොලියුෂන්ස් (පුද්ගලික) තුන් ඉරියව් ක්රීඩක සංඛ පීරිස් (ඉනිම් 05, ශතක 01ක් සහ අර්ධ ශතක 02ක් සමගින් ලකුණු 334ක් සහ 10ක්) ලකුණු 106කට කඩුලු)
ප්රධාන ආරාධිත අමුත්තා, අධ්යක්ෂ/ප්රධාන මෙහෙයුම් නිලධාරී, චරක පෙරේරා සහ ගෞරවනීය ආරාධිත අමුත්තා, සාමාන්යාධිකාරී පරිපාලන දමිතා ජයසුන්දර (දෙදෙනාම Stafford Motor Co. (Pvt. Ltd) MCA නිලධාරීන්, නලින් වික්රමසිංහ මහතා සමඟින් සම්මාන ප්රදානය කරන ලදී. සභාපති මහේෂ් ද අල්විස් ජ්යෙෂ්ඨ උප සභාපති සහ තරඟාවලි කමිටුවේ සභාපති ලක්මාල් ද සිල්වා.
Football
Sri Lanka Announces Squad for AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers – Debate Over Local vs. Origin Players Continues
Sri Lanka has unveiled its 22-man squad for the AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers Final Round, with experienced goalkeeper Sujan Perera leading the team as captain. However, the squad selection has sparked discussions, as 13 out of the 22 players are origin players, leaving fewer opportunities for Sri Lankan-born footballers striving to build their careers locally.
Adding to the concerns, Dillon De Silva will miss the qualifiers due to injury, further impacting the squad’s depth.
Sri Lanka National Team Squad for AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers
Goalkeepers:
- Sujan Perera (C)
- Kaveesh Lakpriya
- Mohamed Mursith
Players:
- Chalana Chameera
- Mohamed Aman
- Mohamed Hasmeer
- RIfkhan Mohamed
- Mohamed Thilham
- Anujan Rajendram
- Oliver Kelaart
- Barath Suresh
- Adhavan Rajamohan
- Leon Perera
- Jack Hingert
- Jason Thayaparan
- Claudio Kammerknecht
- Wade Dekker
- Sam Durrant
- William Thomason
- Waseem Razeek
- Geremi Perera
- Harsha Fernando
- Garrett Kelly
Head Coach: Abdullah Almutairi
Challenges for Sri Lankan-Born Players
In previous international matches, Sri Lanka has often started with 10 or even 9 origin players, limiting exposure for locally developed talent. The lack of high-quality domestic competitions, such as the Super League and Champions League, has made it difficult to scout and nurture homegrown footballers.
While relying on origin players offers an immediate competitive edge, the long-term consequences could hinder the growth of Sri Lankan football. Without structured domestic tournaments, young local players struggle to gain top-level experience, making it challenging to replace experienced origin players in the future.
Balancing Immediate Success and Future Development
With the qualifiers being a crucial test for Sri Lanka, the team management has prioritized experience and international exposure over an experimental squad featuring more local players. While this decision may help in the short term, Sri Lanka Football must focus on reviving domestic leagues to create a sustainable pathway for local talent.
As Sri Lanka prepares for the qualifiers, the debate continues: Should the national team prioritize short-term results or long-term football development?
Stay tuned for more updates on Sri Lanka’s journey in the AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers.
Cricket
Sri Lanka Masters Fall Short in Semi-Final Thriller Against West Indies Masters
Raipur – Sri Lanka Masters were edged out by West Indies Masters in a nail-biting semi-final, losing by just 6 runs in the Legends Cricket Tournament 2024 at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium. Despite a valiant chase, Sri Lanka Masters could not overhaul the 179-run target, finishing at 173/9 in 20 overs.
West Indies Masters Innings Recap
West Indies Masters posted a competitive total of 179/5 in their 20 overs, thanks largely to a late blitz by Denesh Ramdin, who smashed an unbeaten 50 off 22 balls at a strike rate of 227.27. Dwayne Smith (30 off 22) and Walton (31 off 23) gave them a solid start, while Brian Lara contributed a composed 18 off 13 before retiring hurt. Sri Lanka’s bowling was steady, with Nuwan Pradeep (2/34) and Jeevan Mendis (1/26) being the pick of the bowlers.
Sri Lanka Masters’ Fightback Falls Short
In response, Asela Gunaratne stood out for Sri Lanka Masters, scoring a fighting 66 off 42 balls (7 fours, 1 six) at a strike rate of 157.14. However, he lacked substantial support from the middle order. Upul Tharanga (30 off 22) provided a brisk start, but regular wickets slowed the momentum. Ramdin and Dwayne Smith were influential in the field, taking key catches at crucial moments.
The West Indies bowling unit, led by Ben Laughlin (3/28) and Sulieman Benn (2/17), applied consistent pressure during the middle overs, ultimately defending their total in a tense finish.
Looking Ahead
With this win, West Indies Masters advance to the final to face India Masters on March 16, setting up a thrilling contest for the championship. Despite the loss, Sri Lanka Masters can take pride in their impressive tournament run, having finished top of the group stage.
Athletics
Three Sri Lankan Athletes Qualify for World Athletics Indoor Championships 2025
Colombo: In a historic achievement for Sri Lankan athletics, three national athletes have officially qualified for the World Athletics Indoor Championships 2025, set to take place from May 21 to 23 in Nanjing, China. This marks Sri Lanka’s largest representation at the prestigious event in over two decades.
Sri Lankan Athletes Heading to Nanjing 2025
The three Sri Lankan athletes who secured their spots based on performances and world rankings are:
- Chamod Yodasinghe – 60m Sprint
- Kalinga Kumarage – 400m
- Kaveesha Bandara – 60m Hurdles
Their qualification comes after impressive performances at the inaugural National Short Course Championship, highlighting Sri Lanka’s growing potential in indoor athletics.
A Historic Moment for Sri Lanka
The last time Sri Lanka sent a team to the World Athletics Indoor Championships was in 2001 (Lisbon), where four athletes represented the nation. This latest qualification marks the largest contingent in over 20 years, showcasing significant progress despite limited indoor competition opportunities in Sri Lanka.
With preparations underway, these athletes will aim to make an impact on the global stage and elevate Sri Lanka’s presence in international athletics.
Stay tuned for more updates on Sri Lanka’s journey to Nanjing 2025!
-
Live3 years ago
Live Broadcast of Syria vs Sri Lanka | AFC U23 Asian Championship Qualification
-
Football1 month ago
Sri Lanka Schools National Championship 2025: Super 8 Fixtures and Grouping
-
Cricket1 month ago
Sri Lanka vs Australia 2nd Test: Spin to Dominate as Galle Pitch Set to Turn
-
Football2 months ago
FFSL Rebrands Division-1 as ‘League-One’ with a Bold New Vision
-
Football2 months ago
Sri Lanka Football: Upcoming AFC Asian Cup Qualification Matches & Fixtures
-
Football3 weeks ago
Sri Lanka Schools National Championship 2024: Super Eight Round Concludes – Semifinalists Confirmed!
-
Football2 months ago
Erling Haaland Signs Record-Breaking 9.5-Year Contract Extension with Manchester City
-
Cricket2 months ago
Kumar Sangakkara to Lead Sri Lanka in International Masters League (IML) 2025