Sports

Sri Lanka fly in standby players to Zimbabwe

Published

3 years ago

2023/06/21

Left-arm quick Dilshan Madushanka along with Dunith Wellalage and Sahan Arachchige will be flown into Bulawayo as back up players during the World Cup Qualifiers.

In their bid to qualify for this year’s World Cup, Sri Lanka seem to be leaving no stone unturned and have flown in three standby players to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, where the national cricket team is currently playing the World Cup Qualifiers.

Accordingly, left-arm quick Dilshan Madushanka, all-rounder Dunith Wellalage, who bowls left arm spin and batsman Sahan Arachchige have been sent to Bulawayo. They are expected to reach Bulawayo on Friday when Sri Lanka play their second game against Oman.

Fast bowler Dushmantha Chameera is carrying a niggle and missed the first game of the tournament and although he is expected to be fit for the next game, the authorities are not taking any chances.

They seem to have learned from their experiences last year during the T-20 World Cup in Australia where injuries to several players meant that urgent replacements had to be flown in from Colombo.

Unlike Australia, where the national carrier SriLankan has daily flights, it’s not easy to get to Bulawayo. The most preferred routes to Zimbabwe’s second largest city seems – Colombo-Bombay-Nairobi-Victoria Falls and Bulawayo or Colombo – Dubai – Harare – Bulawayo.

Lack of left-arm variety in the Sri Lankan attack has been discussed at several quarters and it is notable that both bowling options that they have called up as reserves are left-armers – Dilshan Madushanka and Dunith Wellalage.

Madushanka was a surprise omission from the original squad and fetched the highest price in the Lanka Premier League auction having been sold for a sum of US$ 92,000. Wellalage fetched US$ 56,000.

Sri Lanka Cricket will be bearing the costs for the three additional players.

Qualifying for the sport’s showpiece event later this year in India is the number one priority of SLC and the board had taken several measures to ensure that the team did not miss out. The board arranged a three match ODI series against Afghanistan as well lead up to the qualifiers and skipper Dasun Shanaka said that the three games helped the team immensely in their preparation.

Sri Lanka beat UAE comprehensively by 175 runs in their opening game and lead the points table in Group ‘B’. Their net run rate of 3.50 is quite enviable.

After Friday’s game against Oman, Sri Lanka will play Ireland on Sunday and Scotland next Tuesday. All their first-round games will be in Bulawayo.

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Arachchige, Rathnayake and Malinga pump Jaffna

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3 hours ago

2026/07/24

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A 36 ball 63 by Sahan Arachchige and three wickets each by Eshan Malinga [3-13] and Tharindu Rathnayake [3-19] helped Galle Gallants defeat Jaffna Kings by 60 runs in the 10th match of the Lanka Premier League 2026. Galle Gallants lead the points table with three wins from four outings.

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Galle Gallants 193/8 in 20 overs [Chris Lynn 46, Sahan Arachchige 63, Dasun Shanaka 12, Dinura Kalupahana 10, Mohammad Nawaz 27; Mohamed Shiraz 1-23, Dunith Wellalage 1-13, Shakib Al Hasan 1-27, Dilshan Madushanaka 2-35, Lizaad Williams 2-37]

Jaffna Kings 133 in 17.5 overs [Kamil Mishara 15, Ibrahim Zadran 11, David Weise 22, Dunith Wellalage 56; Dasun Shanaka 1-21, Tharindu Rathnayake 3-19, Akif Javed 1-22, Eshan Malinga 3-13, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth 1-32]

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Hermann, Liyanage and Mujeeb steer Colombo Kaps to a 23 run win

Published

3 hours ago

2026/07/24

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Janith Liyanage scored an unbeaten 52 [LPL]

Half centuries by Rubin Hermann and Janith Liyanage and a three wicket haul by Mujeeb Ur Rahman helped Colombo Kaps defeat Kandy Royals by 24 runs in the 9th match of the Lanka Premier League 2026 played at Dambulla on Thursday [23rd July]’

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Colombo Kaps 192/9 in 20 overs [Rubin Hermann 53, Sharujan Shanmuganathan 14, Janith Liyanage 52*, James Neesham 24, Binura Fernando 21; Vijay Shankar 1-0, Shaheen Shah Afridi 2-34, Nuwan Thushara 1-31, Moeen Ali 2-31, Dushan Hemantha 2-20]

Kandy Royals 169/8 in 20 overs [Kusal Perera 19, Dale Phillips 38, Vijay Shankar 30, Angelo Mathews 39*, Dushan Hemantha 11*; Shahnawaz Dahani 1-35, Wanuja Sahan 1-24, Mujeeb Ur Rahman 3-34, Malsha Tharupathi 1-29, James Neesham 1-07]

Sports

Sri Lanka edge Qatar in Davis Cup opener

Published

10 hours ago

2026/07/24

Thilina Walpola

Hosts Sri Lanka made a winning start to their Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group IV campaign, edging out Qatar 2-1 in a closely contested opening-day tie at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association courts in Colombo on Wednesday.

The visitors struck first when Mubarak Alharrasi defeated Sri Lanka’s Apna Perera 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in a hard-fought opening singles encounter, giving Qatar an early 1-0 lead.

Sri Lanka bounced back in the second singles as Thehan Wijemanne produced a spirited comeback to overcome Mossa Alharrasi 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. After dropping the opening set, Wijemanne showed great composure to win the next two sets and level the tie at 1-1.

The decisive doubles match proved to be a tense affair, with Apna Perera returning to partner Saha Kapilasena. The Sri Lankan duo held their nerve in two tie-breaks to defeat Jabar Al Mutawan and Mossa Alharrasi 7-6, 7-6, sealing the tie 2-1 for the hosts.

Sri Lanka’s ability to recover from the opening singles defeat highlighted the team’s resilience as Wijemanne’s comeback victory and the doubles pair’s clutch performance ensured a successful start to their campaign. The hosts will now look to build on the opening-day victory as they continue their quest for promotion in the Asia/Oceania Group IV competition.