Sports

Bright future ahead of teenager Duneeth Wellalage

Published

4 years ago

2022/06/19

by Rex Clementine

Respected Indian cricket writer R. Kaushik, who has authored several cricket books including autobiographies of VVS Laxman, ‘281 and Beyond’ and Gundappa Vishwanath ‘Wrist Assured’ is a wise man in the game. He also happens to be a keen follower of Sri Lankan cricket. For the 2003 World Cup, when Sri Lanka travelled to South Africa leaving T.M. Dilshan out, he commented that it was a blunder. Many of us didn’t get his point at that time but in subsequent World Cups Dilshan proved what an asset he can be for the side.

Dilshan could open batting, fit in the middle order, send down ten overs, keep wickets and he was the team’s best fielder. Leaving him out was a no brainer, argued Kaushik.

Similarly, during this year’s ICC Under-19 World Cup, he commented that Dunith Wellalage is a special talent and Sri Lanka have found a match winner. Wellalage has come off with flying colours. After his outing with the Under-19 side, he hit a purple patch in England when he represented Sri Lanka Development Squad. That earned him a call up with Sri Lanka ‘A’ and cricketing hierarchy felt that time was ripe for little Dunith to be thrown into the deep end at the age of 19 against the mighty Aussies. It started off as a dream debut, many teenagers would be dreaming to dismiss Steve Smith on debut.

At Pallekele, Wellalage was living his dream. But eventually it was baptism by fire as Glenn Maxwell was in beast mode. One of cricket’s deadliest finishers versus a rookie was a mismatch. For once, Goliath won but David would have the last laugh. Now then, no saying devil quoting the Bible.

Wellalage was going to get the long rope, play all five games irrespective of results having emerged as one of the best talents in recent times. But he has earned his place with that eye-catching performance in the second game. He chipped in with a useful 20 with the bat before inflicting two vital blows by dismissing Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne in successive overs and that put the brakes on the modest Aussie run chase. More than anything, the moment that lifted his profile was that terrific catch to dismiss Pat Cummins. This is no ordinary player. This is Anura Ranasinghe reborn.

Little Dunith hails from a cricketing family in Moratuwa, one of the nation’s finest cricket bases. His father Suranga was a wicket-keeper batsman who represented Prince of Wales. The left-hander played in six Big Matches and could have gone onto achieve much more in cricket had he focused on the game.

Dunith attended St. Sebastian’s initially before shifting to St. Joseph’s. There he was a sensation. To his luck he had two superb mentors at school, Rev. Fr. Travis Gabriel, the Rector and former Test cricketer Roger Wijesuriya as the coach. A child can rarely fault when there are such sound minds and strict disciplinarians.

Kaushik back in Bangalore is excited for Wellalage and he’s confident that good times are ahead for Sri Lankan cricket, but he has a word of caution, be patient with the young man. Don’t ruin his talent.

Many are talents that we have ruined. Some have self destructed themselves while some others have been given raw deals. Take the case of Wanindu Hasaranga. Like Dunith, he was 19 when Sanath Jayasuriya picked him out of the blues. He had such an impact claiming a hat-trick on debut. Instead of allowing him to develop, soon after Sanath left, he was axed and was in the wilderness for 15 months.

For the 2019 World Cup in England, Sri Lanka overlooked Hasaranga and their leg-spin choice was interesting. All these Born Again allegations can not be dismissed as gossip.

Thankfully when Mickey Arthur returned, Hasaranga found a good mentor. It helped that Ashantha de Mel was Chairman of Selectors. The good thing about de Mel is that if the coach convinced him, he would back the coach’s choices. Let’s hope Wellalage doesn’t suffer the same fate.

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Sports

David Pieris Group of Companies and Golden Green Plantations vie for Abans Challenge Trophy today

Published

21 hours ago

2026/08/29

Thilina Walpola

MCA – ABANS PREMIER LEAGUE 2026

David Pieris Group of Companies and Golden Green Plantations will vie for the ‘Abans Challenge Trophy’ in the final of the MCA – Abans Premier League 2026 at the Thurstan College ground today.

In the league stage, David Peiris Group of Companies led by Manjula Gannile defeated DFCC Bank by 154 runs, Nawaloka Hospitals by 8 wickets and lost to Golden Green Plantations by one wicket to lead the league stage with a higher run rate. In qualifier one David Pieris Group of Companies defeated Golden Green Plantations by 55 runs to gain direct entry to the final.

Golden Green Plantations led by T M Sampath defeated Nawaloka Hospitals by 192 runs, David Pieris Group by one wicket and lost to DFCC Bank by 50 runs to take second spot in the league. Qualifier two between Golden Green Plantations and DFCC Bank which was to be played at the DHH Sports Complex was abandoned twice in succession due to rain and bad ground conditions.

David Pieris Group of Companies Team:

Manjula Gannile (C), Ron Chandraguptha, Santhush Gunathilake, Vinuka Rubasinghe, Mineth Premarathne, Asitha Wanninayake, Lahiru Samarakoon, Tharinda Nirmal, Mihiranga Nimsara. Silva, Lakshan De Silva, Dilanka Auwardt, Akila Elabodage, Mayura Dihan, Udara Bandara, Vihara Attanayake, Shehan Rathnayake

Golden Green Plantations Team:

TM Sampath ( c), Gimandu Malkam, Randika Mihiranga, Upul Hettiarachchi, Mohomad Shamaz (wk), Dhanuja Induwara, Heshan Madhushanka, Malith De silva, Vikum Sanjaya, Johan Pathirana, Kovindu Wickramasinghe, Nuwan Dineth, Liviru Senmith, Thivin Vshvika, Lineth Vithana

Sports

Tharanga storms past 92m in Zurich

Published

21 hours ago

2026/08/29

Thilina Walpola

(File pic) Rumesh Tharanga

World-leading javelin thrower Rumesh Tharanga underlined his status as the man to beat in world athletics with another sensational performance, winning the men’s javelin at the prestigious Weltklasse meeting in Zurich with a massive 92.07 metres.

‎Tharanga’s best effort came in the final round and left him just 21 centimetres short of the meeting record of 92.28m, which has stood for three decades

.‎The 23-year-old first overcame the first round challenge from two-time world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada. Peters took the early lead with a first-round throw of 86.93m, but Tharanga responded in the second round with 88.23m to move ahead.

‎He then increased his advantage in the third round before producing his best effort of the night in the final round, sending the javelin soaring to 92.07m.

Peters had to settle for second with 86.93m, while Poland’s Dawid Wegner was third with 85.16m. Trinidad and Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott finished fourth with 83.02m, followed by Kenya’s Julius Yego (81.66m) and American Marc Anthony Minichello (80.38m).

‎The Zurich victory further strengthens Tharanga’s position at the top of the world javelin hierarchy at a crucial stage of the season. With the Wanda Diamond League Final in Brussels just a week away and the World Athletics Ultimate Championship looming, he has emerged as the athlete everyone will be watching.

‎Tharanga’s latest 92-metre-plus throw also provides a timely reminder of his extraordinary consistency at the highest level, as he continues his remarkable rise among the world’s elite javelin throwers. (RF)

Sports

It’s still a queendom, but Sri Lanka are more than just Athapaththu now

Published

1 day ago

2026/08/28

Priyan

Sri Lanka aren't only about Chamari Athapaththu anymore [Cricinfo]

Sometimes all you need is a little push.

The 2024 Asia Cup was a watershed for this young Sri Lanka outfit. Prior to that exhilarating climax in Dambulla , Sri Lanka’s flashes of international brilliance were almost exclusively engineered by Chamari Athapaththu. Sure, they could occasionally trade heavy blows with the world’s elite, but they lacked the collective capacity for a sustained fight. This was a queendom, one where removing Athapaththu early meant the game was as good as won.

That lopsided dynamic had been there ever since Athapaththu’s debut back in 2009. So it was impossible not to share her heartbreak when she bemoaned her team’s failure to make the T20 World Cup semi-finals earlier this year – “It’s a sadness beyond words… I could never get a chance to take my team into a semi-final of a World Cup… I think I’m a failure as a captain.”

The tragedy of that lament lay in the irony of its timing. For the first time in Athapaththu’s career, she wasn’t actually marooned by herself. The world had already been treated to a glorious glimpse of the team’s ceiling in 2024, when Harshitha Samarawickrema and Kavisha Dilhari struck the winning runs against a heavily favoured India side.

But keeping the progress going is rarely that straightforward – think less ladder and more hiking path with troughs and peaks. And it was a truth that Sri Lanka quickly learned. The euphoria of Dambulla was swept aside by a winless group stage exit at the T20 World Cup in 2024, followed by a barren 2025 devoid of series wins.

The year ended in structural upheaval as the team parted ways with head coach Rumesh Ratnayake, whose calming influence and fatherly reassurance had been foundational to their initial breakthrough.

So was it any surprise that in the last throes of an astonishing career, Athapaththu might have felt her time was up? At 36, with retirement on the not-so-distant-horizon, Athapaththu could be forgiven for thinking her last chance had come and gone.

But women’s cricket has shown in recent times that traditional career timelines, calibrated on the men’s game, might not necessarily make sense. Athapaththu has only grown stronger with age. After a quiet 2025 where she scored just 190 T20I runs at a strike rate of 113.77, she has struck 476 at 143.80 in 2026 – her best strike rate in a calendar year.

And if it was motivation that she needed, her younger colleagues are playing their part in keeping the queen locked in for as long as possible.

Imesha Dulani, 24, has had a breakthrough year, becoming the first Sri Lanka woman not named “Chamari Athapaththu” to score a T20I century, while centuries from Vishmi gunerathne, 21, and Samarawickrama, 28, led a successful chase of 275 – Sri Lanka’s third highest in ODIs – against Pakistan earlier this year, with Athapaththu watching on like the rest of us.

This was also the first year that Sri Lanka Cricket’s annual awards, had Athapaththu going without a nomination in the best women’s ODI batter category, as Samarawickrama won over the electric Nilakshika Silva. Athapaththu was still the big winner overall, though. In fact, there is now genuine competition for places at the top of the batting order, with the likes of Dulani, Gunaratne and Hasini Perera all vying for top-order berths.

The arrival of Jamie Siddons as head coach earlier this year has helped. Since he took over in March, Sri Lanka have made a noticeable shift to a more aggressive brand of cricket – something Siddons had signposted upon arrival. Whereas boundary-hitting had taken a back seat previously, Siddons has sought to bring the team’s approach in line with modern practices.

“We win in singles and twos, but we don’t score more boundaries than the opposition, and that’s why we lose against the best teams,” Siddons had said when he took over.

All this is to say that, this Sri Lanka is not the same Sri Lanka that entered the Asia Cup two years ago, nor is it even the one that won it. While they remain distinct underdogs against a formidable India, this is now a side equipped with multiple match-winners and a swelling sense of belief.

It’s also a side that is yet to touch its ceiling. There have been times when Athapaththu has not clicked and others have bailed the team out, but it’s those scintillating periods when it has all come together that this unit has shown its true fire. If they can put together more of those days, then a consecutive Asia Cup crown might well be within their reach.

[Cricinfo]