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Wanindu Hasaranga spin a web to outplay UAE

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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.

Cricket

Kamindu Mendis Shines as Sunrisers Hyderabad Break Chepauk Curse, Crush CSK’s Playoff Hopes | IPL 2025

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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.
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News

Kaya Daluwatte and Reshan Algama Shine at 16th Faldo Series Asia Grand Final in Vietnam

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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.

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Football

SAFF Championship Postponement Exposes Deeper Issues Within FFSL

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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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