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Clinical Sri Lanka take opening day’s honours
Relentless spells from Vishwa Fernando (4-51), Prabath Jayasuriya (3-67) and Asitha Fernando (3-24) helped Sri Lanka boss the opening day’s play against Afghanistan at the Sinhalese Sports Club, Colombo on Friday (February 2). The trio’s efforts ensured that Sri Lanka’s latest Test captain Dhananjaya de Silva’s decision to bowl at the toss was vindicated, with Afghanistan folding for a low total of 198.
Rahmat Shah was the only batter for the visitors to show a solid resistance as he stroked his way to a 139-ball 91, studded with 13 fours. The Afghanistan No.3 looked composed at the crease and was rarely troubled by either pace or spin. Unfortunately for Rahmat, none of his partners hung around long enough for him to combine for a sizeable partnership.
The innings started on a false note for Afghanistan as Asitha trapped Ibrahim Zadran LBW off just the second ball of the match. Noor Ali Zadran looked fluent in his brief stay but fell to a soft dismissal against Vishwa who took a caught and bowled to remove the opener.
Skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi dug in and was involved in a half-century stand with Rahmat as Afghanistan got to 109/2 in the 33rd over. It seemed like the visitors would gradually work themselves towards a position of comfort. However, Vishwa returned to get rid of Shahidi and that started a collapse from which Afghanistan never recovered. The left-arm spin of Jayasuriya plugged away at one end, reaping rewards for some attacking bowling and also aided by some half-hearted batting. Rahmat was the fifth batter out with the score reading 155 and the remaining five wickets added just 43 more.
Sri Lanka’s opening pair of Dimuth Karunaratne and Nishan Madushka then drove home the advantage further with a solid unbroken stand. The former was the aggressor as he constantly peppered the gaps to find boundaries, allowing him to score at better than run-a-ball. While not matching his partner’s pace of scoring, Madushka also got going briskly as the pair took heavy toll of some listless bowling from the tourists.
Brief scores:
Afghanistan 198 (Rahmat Shah 91, Noor Ali Zadran 31, Ikram Alikhil 21, Quais Ahmad 21, Vishwa Fernando 4-51, Asitha Fernando 3-24, Prabath Jayasuriya 3-67) lead Sri Lanka 80/0 (Dimuth Karunaratne 42*, Nishant Madushka 36*) by 118 runs.
The Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the proposal submitted by the Prime Minister to recruit 2,284 to the government service as per the recommendations of the ‘Committee appointed to review the recruitment process of the Government Service at its meeting held on 14.11.2025.
1. Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education 196
2. Ministry of Health and Mass Media 480
3. Ministry of Public Administration, Provincial Councils and
Local Governments 04
4. Ministry of Finance, Policy Planning and Economic
Development 19
5. Ministry of Transport, Highways and Urban Development 778
6. Ministry of Justice and National Integration 222
7. Ministry of Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development 107
8. Ministry of Defense 73
9. Ministry of Fisheries, Aquatic and Ocean Resources 20
10. Ministry of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs 21
11. Ministry of Industries and Entrepreneurship Development 36
12. Ministry of Buddha Shasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs
04
13. Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure
Facilities 02
14. Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation 74
15. Western Provincial Council 230
16. Uva Provincial Council 08
17. North Western Provincial Council 08
18. Finance Commission 02
Latest News
Cabinet green light to obtain a grant from the Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund for post – disaster relief and rehabilitation activities
On a request made by the government of Sri Lanka, the Asian Development Bank has given its concurrence to provide a grant of United States dollars 3 million under Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund.
It is expected to supply materials required for providing essential life security services for the communities affected, from the said grant.
Therefore, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the proposal submitted by the President as the Minister of Finance, Plan Implementation and Economic Development to enter into the relevant agreements with the Asian Development Bank to obtain the said grant.
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Adhering to the broad plan of the Government to reach the objective of accomplishing 70% of the country’s electricity supply from renewable energy sources by the year 2030, the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers was granted on 10.02.2025 to invite requests for resolutions from interested developers of the private sector in order to implement the Mullikulum Wind Power – 100 Mega Watts (two (02) wind power stations of
50 Mega Watts each) on the basis of construction, ownership and execution with a monitoring period of 20 years.
Accordingly, requests for proposals have been called to implement the relevant project by adhering to the international competitive bidding methodology, and seven (7) prospective project proposals were submitted.
Evaluating the said proposals, based on the recommendations submitted by the negotiation committee appointed by the Cabinet of Ministers, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Power to award the contracts of establishing the two (02) 50 Mega Watts Wind
Power Stations to Consortium of Vidullanka PLC & David Pieris Motor Company (Lanka) Limited and WindForce PLC.
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