News

Wanindu Hasaranga spin a web to outplay UAE

Published

2 years ago

June 20, 2023

Editor

World Cup qualifiers

Sri Lanka display an all-round performance to beat United Arab Emirates by a massive margin of 175 runs in their opening game of the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifiers worked off at Zimbabwe yesterday.
First, the batters of Sri Lanka outclassed the opposition bowling and then the bowlers showed pure class to trouble the UAE batting lineup.
Put into bat first Sri Lanka posted 355 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in their allotted 50 overs and in reply UAE were bundled out for below par score of 180 runs.
Earlier Sri Lanka was off to a decent start when they added a 95-run partnership for the first wicket between Dimuth Karunaratne and Pathum Nissanka.
Dimuth notched up his first half-century in the qualifying round when he went on to score 52 runs while Pathum Nissanka smashed 57 runs before both of them departed.
After both the openers were back in the pavilion Sadeera Samarawickrama joined Kusal Mendis in the middle and continued Sri Lanka’s dominance with another 149-run partnership for the third wicket.
Kusal Mendis continued his fine form top scoring a brilliant 78 off 63 deliveries, while Sadeera Samawickrama – who found a spot in the playing XI after 2-3 years – proved his capabilities smashing 64 balls and 73 runs to set the platform for Sri Lanka to push past the 300-run mark.
Mendis holed out to the substitute fielder off Ali Naseer at the boundary line and Samarawickrama was run out on 73 from 64 balls to give UAE hope of restricting the scoring in the final six overs.
But Asalanka had other ideas, unleashing boundary after boundary in a brilliant display of finishing as he struck 48* off just 23 balls. And Wanindu Hasaranga (23* off 12) hit three boundaries in the final over to help post a score of 355/6 that will test UAE to the limit.
In reply, the target for UAE was beyond their limits as they were bundled out for 180 runs in just 39 overs.
Man with a golden arm Wanindu Hasaranga was the architect of UAE’s batting collapse as he ripped through their batting order to end with figures of 6-24. It also registers as Hasaranga’s best ODI bowling figure. En route to his six-wicket haul, Hasaranga also completed a mini milestone of 50 ODI wickets.
When the scoreboard was at 119-5, the UAE innings was revived to a certain extent when Ali Naseer joined Rameez Shehzad in the middle to put on a 48-run partnership for the 6th wickets, but it was cut short when Mahesh Theekshana joined the party to bamboozle Ali Naseer for 34 runs.
None of their batters impressed apart from wicketkeeper batter Vriitya Aravind and M. Waseem who top scored with a fighting 39 runs.
The win saw the Islanders placed top in the points table with a superior net run rate.
Meanwhile, in the other encounter, Oman pulled off a superb run chase to beat Ireland by five wickets in another group match to cause the first upset in the qualifying tournament.
Ireland would have been confident after posting a healthy 281/7 thanks to Harry Tector (52 off 82 balls) and George Dockrell (91 off 89 balls) cameos after Oman elected to bowl.
But the under-dogs Oman chased down the target in style with 11 balls to spare.
Kashyap Prajapati, Aqib Ilyas and Zeeshan Maqsood hit half-centuries to take their team over the line.

වනිඳු හසරංග එක්සත් අරාබි එමීර් රාජ්‍යය දණ ගස්වයි.

සිම්බාබ්වේහිදී ඊයේ ආරම්භ වූ ICC ක්‍රිකට් ලෝක කුසලාන සුදුසුකම් ලැබීමේ තරගාවලියේ පළමු තරගයෙන් එක්සත් අරාබි එමීර් රාජ්‍යයට එරෙහිව ලකුණු 175 ක දැවැන්ත ජයග්‍රහණයක් ලබා ගැනීමට ශ්‍රී ලංකා කණ්ඩායම සමත් විය.

පළමුවෙන් පන්දුවට පහරදුන් ශ්‍රී ලංකා කණ්ඩායම නියමිත පන්දුවාර 50 තුළ කඩුලු 6ක් දැවී ලකුණු 355ක් රැස්කළ අතර පිළිතුරු ලෙස UAE කණ්ඩායම ලකුණු 180කට අඩුවෙන් දැවී ගියේය.

දිමුත් කරුණාරත්න සහ පැතුම් නිශ්ශංක අතර පළමු කඩුල්ලට ලකුණු 95ක සබඳතාවක් එක් කරමින් ශ්‍රී ලංකා කණ්ඩායම යහපත් ආරම්භයක් ලබා ගත්හ.
දිමුත් සුදුසුකම් ලැබීමේ වටයේ දී සිය පළමු අර්ධ ශතකය වාර්තා කළ අතර ඔහු ලකුණු 52ක් හා පැතුම් නිශ්ශංක ලකුණු 57ක් ලබා සිටියදී ඔවුන් දෙදෙනාම දැවී ගියහ.

පසුව සදීර සමරවික්‍රම, කුසල් මෙන්ඩිස් සමඟින් එක්ව තෙවැනි කඩුල්ලට තවත් ලකුණු 149 ක සම්බන්ධතාවක් පවත්වමින් ශ්‍රී ලංකා ආධිපත්‍යය දිගටම පවත්වාගෙන ගියේය.

කුසල් මෙන්ඩිස් පන්දු 63කදී විශිෂ්ට ලකුණු 78ක් රැස්කරමින් සිය දක්ෂතා අඛණ්ඩව පවත්වාගෙන ගිය අතර වසර 2-3කට පසුව ක්‍රිකට් කණ්ඩායමේ ස්ථානයක් හිමිකරගත් සධීර සමරවික්‍රම පන්දු 64කදී ලකුණු 73ක් ලබාගනිමින් ශ්‍රී ලංකා කණ්ඩායමේ සිය ස්ථානය තහවුරු කිරිමට තම හැකියාවන් ඔප්පු කළේය.

අවසන් භාගයේදි පන්දු 23කදී නොදැවී ලකුණු 48ක් රැස්කළ අසලංක සහ වනිඳු හසරංග (පන්දු 23* 12) අවසන් ඕවරයේදී හතරේ පහර 3ක් එල්ල කරමින් ලකුණු 355/6ක් ලබා ගැනීමට උපකාරී විය.

පිළිතුරු ලෙස එක්සත් අරාබි එමීර් රාජ්‍යයේ පන්දුවාර 39කදී ලකුණු 180කට දැවී ගියේය.
වනිඳු හසරංග එක්සත් අරාබි එමීර් රාජ්‍යයේ පිතිකරණ බිඳවැටීමේ නිර්මාපකයා වූ ඔහු සිය හොඳම එක්දින පන්දු යැවීම (6-24) ලෙසද අවසන් කලේය. හසරංග සිය කඩුලු 6 දවාලීමට යන ගමනේදී එක්දින කඩුලු 50ක කුඩා සන්ධිස්ථානයක් ද සම්පූර්ණ කළේය.

මෙම ජයග්‍රහණයත් සමඟ දිවයිනේ ක්‍රීඩකයින් ප්‍රසාද ලකුණු සටහනේ ඉහළ ශුද්ධ ලකුණු අනුපාතයක් සමඟින් පළමු ස්ථානයට පත් විය
.
මේ අතර, අනෙක් තරගයේදී ඕමානය විශිෂ්ට ලකුණු හඹා යාමක් ආරම්භ කරමින් තවත් කාණ්ඩයේ තරගයකදී අයර්ලන්තය කඩුලු පහකින් පරාජය කිරීමට සුදුසුකම් ලැබීමේ තරගාවලියේ පළමු පෙරළිය ඇති කළේය.

ඕමානය පන්දු යැවීමට තෝරා ගැනීමෙන් පසුව හැරී ටෙක්ටර් (පන්දු 82 කදී ලකුණු 52) සහ ජෝර්ජ් ඩොක්‍රෙල් (පන්දු 89 කදී ලකුණු 91) ට ස්තූතිවන්ත වෙමින් ආරක්ෂාකාරී 281/7 ක් ලබා ගැනීමෙන් පසු අයර්ලන්තය විශ්වාසය මඳක් ඉහළ නැංවී තිබුණි.

එහෙත් ඕමාන් කණ්ඩායම පන්දු 11ක් ඉතිරිව තිබියදී විශිෂ්ට ලෙස ඉලක්කය හඹා ගියේය.
කාශ්‍යප් ප්‍රජාපති, අකිබ් ඉල්යාස් සහ සීෂාන් මක්සූඩ් අර්ධ ශතක රැස් කරමින් තම කණ්ඩායම ඉදිරියට ගෙන ගියහ.

News

Sri Lanka Set to Face UAE in Crucial Rugby Clash Tomorrow in Colombo

Published

2 days ago

July 4, 2025

Editor

The Sri Lanka national rugby team will lock horns with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in a much-anticipated international rugby encounter set to take place today (July 4) at the iconic Racecourse Ground, Colombo.

As part of their final preparations, the Sri Lankan team held an intensive training session today under the watchful eyes of the coaching staff. The team looked sharp, focused, and ready to bring their A-game to home soil.

This clash promises to be a key test for the Tuskers as they look to strengthen their footing in the regional rugby scene and gain momentum ahead of upcoming international competitions. UAE, a rising force in Asian rugby, will also be eyeing a big performance away from home.

Both teams are expected to field strong lineups, and the match is anticipated to draw significant interest from local fans eager to witness top-tier rugby action.

📍 Match Info
🗓️ Date: July 4, 2025
📍 Venue: Racecourse Rugby Grounds, Colombo
🕒 Kick-off: TBA

Stay tuned for live updates, photos, and post-match coverage on Sri Lankan Sports TV.

Football

Sri Lanka Women Crushed 8-0 by Nepal in AFC Qualifiers – Tactical Collapse Raises Alarm

Published

3 days ago

July 2, 2025

Editor

Colombo, July 2 – Sri Lanka Women’s National Football Team suffered another brutal defeat in the AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers, going down 8-0 to a confident and clinical Nepalese side. Coming just days after a 10-0 hammering by Uzbekistan, this latest loss highlights deeper tactical, technical, and structural issues within Sri Lanka’s women’s football system.

Full-Time Score: Sri Lanka 0 – 8 Nepal

Half-Time: 0 – 4
Venue: Group F – AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers

Key Match Statistics

Stat	Sri Lanka Women	Nepal Women
Possession	50%	50%
Total Shots	4	26
Shots on Target	3	18
Shots off Target	1	8
Expected Goals (xG)	0.60	3.76
Corners	0	14
Fouls	4	6
Cards	0	0
Offsides	0	3

Tactical Breakdown – Why Sri Lanka Lost 8-0

Despite the possession being even at 50%, Sri Lanka was thoroughly outplayed. This is a classic case where possession stats mislead the reality on the pitch.

1. Poor Defensive Organization

Sri Lanka conceded 14 corners and 18 shots on target, indicating that Nepal constantly penetrated both flanks and delivered into the box unchallenged.
There was no compact defensive line, and Nepal exploited space behind Sri Lanka’s fullbacks repeatedly.

2. Ineffective Midfield Structure

While Sri Lanka held possession equally, it was largely passive and in non-threatening zones.
Nepal, on the other hand, converted their possession into 3.76 xG, showing how effective and vertical their transitions were.

3. Repeated Failures in Closing Down Key Players

Sabitra Bhandari scored a hat-trick within 26 minutes (14’, 36’, 40’) and was left unmarked multiple times.
Nepal’s attackers were given space and time to shoot – evident from the 18 shots on target.

4. No Offensive Threat

Sri Lanka managed only 4 shots in the entire game, with an xG of just 0.60.
With no corners and no real pressing, the team offered nothing going forward, allowing Nepal to push numbers up comfortably.

Back-to-Back Heavy Losses: Structural Failures Exposed

This defeat comes after a 10-0 loss to Uzbekistan, meaning Sri Lanka has now conceded 18 goals in two matches without scoring once.

This isn’t just a reflection of players’ on-field performance — it’s a glaring indictment of:

FFSL’s failure to conduct any women’s football league in years
A rushed team selection based on a short trial, without competitive match practice
No structured coaching program or international exposure
Lack of scouting, fitness programs, and tactical planning

Nepal, though not an Asian powerhouse, had better coaching structure, player chemistry, and clear tactics, which led to their dominance.

What’s Next for Sri Lanka?

If the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL) and the Ministry of Sports continue to ignore these warning signs, Sri Lanka risks becoming irrelevant in women’s football on the Asian stage.

What’s needed:

✅ A proper national women’s league
✅ Regular youth-level competitions and scouting
✅ Appointing qualified coaching staff with modern tactical knowledge
✅ Consistent international exposure for players

Conclusion

An 8-0 defeat to Nepal isn’t just a bad result — it’s a mirror held up to a broken system. Unless real change is implemented beyond symbolic participation, these results will become Sri Lanka’s norm in women’s football.

News

Top International Referees to Officiate High-Profile Dialog Schools Rugby Matches in Sri Lanka

Published

3 days ago

July 2, 2025

Editor

Colombo – In a significant boost for school-level rugby in Sri Lanka, two internationally renowned referees from Hong Kong have been appointed to officiate key Dialog Schools A Division Rugby League matches this weekend.

Sunny Lee to Referee Pathana–Thomian Clash

Sunny Lee, a celebrated female international rugby referee from Hong Kong, will take charge of the much-anticipated encounter between S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia and Isipathana College, Colombo. The prestigious Rizvy Suhayb Memorial Trophy match is set for July 5 at S. Thomas’ College Grounds, Mount Lavinia.

Lee’s presence is expected to bring elite-level officiating standards to this traditional rivalry, enhancing the competitive environment and offering student-athletes a platform to perform under world-class match management.

Francisco Cammisa to Oversee Trinity vs Royal Clash

On the same day in Kandy, another experienced Hong Kong referee, Francisco Cammisa, will officiate the top-tier fixture between Trinity College, Kandy and Royal College, Colombo at the Pallekele Rugby Stadium.

International Support for Local Rugby

The arrival of these elite foreign referees is made possible through the efforts of Dilroy Fernando, former international referee and referee educator. With backing from Asian Rugby (covering airfares) and the host schools (providing accommodation and hospitality), this initiative aims to uplift officiating standards and offer young Sri Lankan players the opportunity to compete at a globally recognized level.

Long-Term Impact on School Rugby

This strategic move is expected to:

Enhance the quality and fairness of officiating in the Dialog Schools Rugby League
Give emerging players exposure to world-class rugby conditions
Strengthen partnerships between Sri Lankan rugby institutions and international bodies

The involvement of international referees like Sunny Lee and Francisco Cammisa also sends a strong message about gender inclusivity and professional standards in the sport