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Wanindu Hasaranga’s fifer-for helped Sri Lanka thump Oman in the World Cup qualifier

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Man with a golden arm Wanindu Hasaranga bagged his second successive five-wicket haul to help Sri Lanka rout Oman by 10 wickets in the ongoing World Cup Qualifier on Friday.

The win so Sri Lanka to climb the top of the points table in Group B with a massive net run rate and now are well-placed to reach the Super Six stage now.

Putting Oman into bat first, Sri Lankan bowlers put on a dominant show to bundle them out for a meagre 98-run total as Wanindu Hasaranga claimed a sensational five-wicket haul.

Oman, who were unbeaten in their opening two matches of the CWC Qualifier, came face to face with Sri Lanka and felt the wrath of the former champions and Asia Cup winners.

Batting first in the 11th match of the tournament, Oman’s batting lineup failed completely and could only accumulate 98 runs before being bundled out in the 31st over.

All-rounder Ayaan Khan offered some resistance with a gutsy 41 off 60 deliveries while opening batter Jatinder Singh (21) was the other valuable contributor to Oman’s total, who had an overall dismal show with the bat.

Besides the two, none of their batters could make significant contributions, while eight of them even failed to make it to double digits.

Wanindu Hasaranga led the bowling attack for Sri Lanka with 5/13, while Lahiru Kumara returned with 3/22. Kasun Rajitha, on the other hand, had one scalp.

“I bowl at stumps, that’s why I got wickets,” Hasaranga said after winning ‘Player of the Match’.

“This is a very good wicket to bowl for leg spinners. I always tried to bowl at the Stumps and I believe that’s why I got wickets. I always try to stick to the basics and that goes well for me. The Pacers also did their job well with bowling in good areas. These matches will be very helpful for us for the big picture (world cup)”, Wanindu added.

Chasing just 99 runs in 50 overs, Sri Lanka openers completed their task in just 15 overs of the game. Dimuth Karunaratne top scored for Sri Lanka with 61* off just 51 deliveries, while his partner Pathum Nissanka remained unbeaten at 37 off 39 balls.

Oman captain Zeeshan Maqsod said that he wants his team to hold their heads high because these are games that they can take their learning.

“To play against Sri Lanka is proud for us. We have learned a lot from them, the way their bowlers bowled and their batters. First 10 overs, we lost too many wickets early on. We are tested now and that is good for us. Now we know what we need to do going forward. The positive for us is we have two wins. We cannot lose hope and we have to feel pride and play well,” the Oman captain said after the match.

Sri Lanka will next meet Ireland today in their third game.

Brief scores: Oman 98 in 30.2 overs (Ayaan Khan 41; Wanindu Hasaranga 5/13, Lahiru Kumara 3/22) lost to Sri Lanka 100 for no loss in 15 overs (Dimuth Karunaratne 61*) by 10 wickets

වනිඳු හසරංගගේ අනර්ඝ පන්දු යැවීමෙන් ලෝක කුසලාන සුදුසුකම් ලැබීමේ තරගයේදී ඕමානය පරාජය කිරීමට ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සමත් වේ.

සිකුරාදා පැවති ලෝක කුසලාන සුදුසුකම් ලැබීමේ තරගයේදී ඕමානය කඩුලු 10 කින් පරාජය කිරීමට ශ්‍රී ලංකා කණ්ඩායමට උපකාර කරමින් වනිඳු හසරංග සිය පිට පිට දෙවැනි කඩුලු 5 දවාලීමට සමත් විය.

මෙම ජයග්‍රහණය නිසා දැවැන්ත දළ ලකුණු වේගයක් සමඟින් B කාණ්ඩයේ ප්‍රසාද ලකුණු සටහනේ ඉහළට පැමිණීමට ශ්‍රී ලංකාව මේ වන විට සුපර් සික්ස් අදියරට පැමිණීමට හොඳ තැනක සිටී.

ඕමානය ප්‍රථමයෙන් පන්දුවට පහර දුන් ශ්‍රී ලංකා පන්දු යවන්නන් ප්‍රමුඛ පෙළේ ක්‍රීඩකයින් ලකුණු 98කට දැවී ගිය අතර වනිඳු හසරංග සංවේදී කඩුලු 5ක් දවා ගැනීමට සමත් විය.

CWC සුදුසුකම් ලැබීමේ තරගාවලියේ ආරම්භක තරග දෙකේදීම අපරාජිතව සිටි ඕමානය ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සමඟ මුහුණට මුහුණ ලා හිටපු ශූරයන්ගේ සහ ආසියානු කුසලාන ජයග්‍රාහකයන්ගේ අණසකට පත් විය.

තරගාවලියේ 11 වැනි තරගයේ පළමුවෙන් පන්දුවට පහරදුන් ඕමාන් පිතිකරණ පෙළ සම්පූර්ණයෙන්ම අසාර්ථක වූ අතර 31 වැනි ඕවරයේදී දැවී යාමට පෙර රැස්කරගත හැකි වූයේ ලකුණු 98ක් පමණි.

තුන් ඉරියව් ක්‍රීඩක අයාන් ඛාන් පන්දු 60කින් ලකුණු 41ක් ලබා ගනිමින් යම් සටනක් ලබා දුන් අතර ආරම්භක පිතිකරු ජතින්දර් සිං (21) ඕමානයේ මුළු ලකුණු සංඛ්‍යාවට දායක වූ අනෙක් වටිනා දායකත්වය පිතිකරණයෙන් කළ නොහැකි විය.

ඔවුන් දෙදෙනාට අමතරව, ඔවුන්ගේ පිතිකරුවන් කිසිවෙකුට සැලකිය යුතු දායකත්වයක් ලබා දීමට නොහැකි වූ අතර, ඔවුන්ගෙන් අට දෙනෙකුට එය ඉලක්කම් දෙකකින් කිරීමට පවා නොහැකි විය.

වනිඳු හසරංග 5/13ක් ලෙසින් ශ්‍රී ලංකාව වෙනුවෙන් පන්දු යැවීමේ ප්‍රහාරය මෙහෙයවූ අතර, ළහිරු කුමාර 3/22කින් ආපසු පැමිණියේය. අනෙක් අතට කසුන් රාජිතට තිබුණේ එක හිස් කඩුල්ලකි.

ඕවර 50කදී ලකුණු 99ක් පමණක් හඹාගිය ශ්‍රී ලංකා ආරම්භක පිතිකරුවෝ තරගයේ ඕවර 15ක් පමණක් අවසානයේ සිය කාර්යය සම්පූර්ණ කළහ. ශ්‍රී ලංකාව වෙනුවෙන් දිමුත් කරුණාරත්න පන්දු 51කදී ලකුණු 61*ක් රැස්කළ අතර පැතුම් නිශ්ශංක පන්දු 39කදී නොදැවී ලකුණු 37ක් රැස් කළේය.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව මීළඟට අයර්ලන්තය හමුවන්නේ සිය තුන්වැනි තරගයයි.

සංක්ෂිප්ත ලකුණු: ඕමානය ඕවර 30.2කදී 98 (අයාන් ඛාන් 41; වනිඳු හසරංග 5/13, ලහිරු කුමාර 3/22) ශ්‍රී ලංකාව හමුවේ ඕවර 15කදී නොදැවී ලකුණු 100 (දිමුත් කරුණාරත්න 61*) කඩුලු 10කින් පරාජයට පත්විය.

Cricket

Tragedy Halts 66th Battle of the Babes in Kandy

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The 66th edition of the “Battle of the Babes” big match between St. Sylvester’s College and Vidyartha College was abruptly called off on Wednesday after a tragic road accident claimed the lives of two St. Sylvester’s students.

The incident occurred as the students were on their way to witness the much-anticipated encounter at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium. According to police, the motorcycle they were travelling on collided head-on with a bus.

One of the victims, Sachith Karunaratne, died at the scene. The other student, Nethula Nimdinu, was rushed to the Kandy National Hospital but later succumbed to his injuries.
The shocking news cast a shadow over the annual fixture, prompting authorities to take swift action. Central Province Governor Sarath Abeykoon reportedly suggested halting the match, after which the principals of both schools jointly agreed to call off the game midway.

St. Sylvester’s College confirmed the untimely deaths, paying tribute to the two students as committed and valued members of their school community.

Meanwhile, Kandy Police have launched an investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding the fatal accident.

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Sri Lanka Women’s U19 Squad Named for Australia Tri-Series Tour

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Sri Lanka Cricket has announced a 15-member Women’s Under-19 squad for the upcoming Tri-Series tour of Australia, which will also feature England. The tour is set to provide valuable international exposure for the young Sri Lankan side as they prepare to face two strong cricketing nations in both One Day and T20 formats.

The team, led by captain Chamodi Praboda of Pagnagnanda MV, Monaragala, includes a promising mix of talent drawn from leading schools across the island. Several players from Devapathiraja College, Rathgama including Sanjana Kavindi, Nethagi Isuranjali, and Shashini Gimhani have earned selections, reflecting the school’s continued contribution to women’s cricket development.

Other notable inclusions are Vimoksha Balasuriya from Sinhala MV, Trincomalee, Umayangana Peiris of Princess of Wales College, Moratuwa, and Nethmi Upeksha from Maliyadeva Balika, Kurunegala. The squad also features players such as Aseni Thalagune (Mahamaya Girls School, Kandy), Chamodi Herath (Anura College, Matara), and Daria Dissanayake of Ladies College, Colombo, showcasing a diverse representation of emerging talent.

The team will play a total of six matches during the tour, including two One Day Internationals and four T20 games, scheduled on April 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, and 18. The squad is set to depart for Australia on April 3, 2026.

This tour is expected to play a key role in shaping the future of Sri Lanka’s women’s cricket, offering these young players a platform to gain crucial international experience.

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Sri Lanka Cricket Appoints New National Coaches for High Performance Centre

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Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has announced two key appointments to its National High Performance Centre as part of efforts to strengthen the country’s coaching structure across all formats and levels.

Former Netherlands coach Ryan van Niekerk has been named the National Bowling Coach, while Jordan Gregory will take on the role of National Fielding and Spin Bowling Coach. Both appointments will come into effect from April 15, 2026, with each coach set to serve a two-year tenure.

In his new role, van Niekerk will oversee fast bowling development across all national teams, including the senior men’s side. He brings valuable international experience, having served as the bowling coach and interim head coach of the Netherlands national team from 2023 to 2026. Prior to that, he worked as the assistant coach and bowling coach of the Netherlands men’s team.

During his time with the Dutch side, van Niekerk played a role in their participation in major global tournaments, including the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cups in 2024 and 2026.

Meanwhile, Gregory will be responsible for managing fielding standards and spin bowling development across all national squads. He previously worked as a fielding consultant with Netherlands Cricket and contributed to several international assignments, including the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2023.

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