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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.

Football

Stafford vs. Colombo International: The Second Edition of the Big Match Kicks Off!

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Football fever returns as Stafford International School and Colombo International School gear up for the second edition of their highly anticipated Big Match! This year, the rivalry intensifies with four matches across different age and gender categories:

U15 Girls
U15 Boys
U20 Girls
U20 Boys

🏆 Stafford International’s Rising Stars:

  • U15 Girls: Defending TISSL U14 and Colombo SLSFA District champions, featuring standout players like Keshalee Ranatunga and Sonja Ratanayake (just 10 years old!).
  • U15 Boys: All-Island U14 runners-up out of 462 schools, led by goalkeeper Yash Amarasekara, who was named Best U14 GK in Sri Lanka.
  • U20 Girls & Boys: Both teams finished as TISSL runners-up, boasting stars like Raya Rikaz, Yumna Safraz, Adnaan Ameen, and Nidurshan Mohan.

🏆 Colombo International’s Key Players:

  • U15 Girls: TISSL U16 runners-up, featuring top defender Khadeeja Niyas and striker Ozra.
  • U20 Girls: TISSL U20 runners-up, with Fioni Dedhia named Goalkeeper of the Tournament.
  • U20 Boys: Defending Big Match champions, looking to retain their title behind stars like Krishwen and Habib.

👀 Who will come out on top this time? Watch the action LIVE at the link below! 🎥👇

#BigMatch2025 #SchoolFootball #SriLankaFootball #StaffordVsCIS #RivalryRenewed

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Cricket

Shammi Silva Re-Elected as Sri Lanka Cricket President for Fourth Consecutive Term

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Shammi Silva has been re-elected as the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) president for the 2025-27 term, marking his fourth consecutive tenure at the helm of the nation’s cricket governing body. Silva secured the position uncontested at the 64th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Colombo on Monday.

A Controversial Yet Dominant Tenure

Silva’s leadership has not been without controversy. His previous term saw a high-profile clash with former Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe in 2023, which led to an interim committee being appointed after Sri Lanka’s poor performance in the ICC ODI World Cup. This move resulted in ICC suspending SLC, which led to Sri Lanka losing the hosting rights for the U19 Men’s World Cup, which was later held in South Africa.

Despite these setbacks, Silva regained control after a court ruling reinstated his administration, and he was later appointed as the president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) in December 2023, replacing Jay Shah.

Challenges & Future Outlook

Sri Lanka Cricket has long been seen as a powerful and influential body, with internal politics often shaping its leadership. With financial mismanagement concerns highlighted in the Auditor General’s report, Silva’s administration faces the challenge of restoring credibility and ensuring better governance.

With the ICC ban lifted, Sri Lanka looks to rebuild its cricketing structure and improve performance on the international stage. The focus now shifts to upcoming bilateral series, the Asia Cup, and preparations for the 2027 ICC Cricket World Cup.

Stay tuned for more updates on Sri Lanka Cricket and the latest in the world of sports!

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Cricket

Stephen Fleming Defends MS Dhoni’s Batting Position Amid Criticism

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Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming has defended MS Dhoni’s late entry in the batting order, stating that the legendary wicketkeeper-batsman cannot play an extended innings at full intensity due to lingering knee concerns.

The 43-year-old Dhoni faced criticism after coming in at No. 9 during CSK’s 50-run loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Chepauk. In the next match against Rajasthan Royals on March 30, 2025, he batted at No. 7 when CSK required 54 off 25 balls but managed just 16 off 11 as his team fell short by six runs.

Fleming’s Explanation on Dhoni’s Role

Fleming emphasized that Dhoni carefully assesses the match situation before deciding when to bat.

“It’s all about timing. MS judges his body and situation. His knees aren’t what they used to be, so he can’t bat for 10 overs at full intensity. He will step in based on the game’s demands,” Fleming explained at the post-match press conference.

The CSK coach reiterated that Dhoni remains too valuable to the team for his leadership and wicketkeeping and that sending him in too early could be a strategic misstep.

“From around the 13th or 14th over, he assesses the situation and decides. He trusts other batters early on but steps up when needed.”

CSK’s Struggles in the Powerplay Cost Them the Match

Fleming also pinpointed CSK’s poor powerplay performance as a key reason for their loss against Rajasthan Royals. While RR blasted 79/1 in the powerplay, CSK only managed 42/1,

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