Sports
Dunith Wellalage show
by Rex Clementine
Sanity prevailed at last as Pakistan Cricket Board, the hosts of the Asia Cup, brought down the ticket prices and a near full house witnessed a nail-biter between Sri Lanka and India. Sri Lanka were ruing missed opportunities. Having done so well to bowl out the strong Indian side for 213, the batters should have chased this down, but everyone in cricket circles would agree that the batting unit lacked intelligence.
However, what a show it was by Dunith Wellalage. Any 20-year-old who gets Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in successive overs must be special and that itself would earn him an IPL deal forget his five-wicket haul or batting exploits.
Wellalage is not the most talented kid around. But he makes the most of his limited skills very much like T.M. Dilshan. He kept improvising in such a way that he would rank alongside Sanath Jayasuriya and Lasith Malinga as Sri Lanka’s most successful white ball cricketer.
When Dhananjaya de Silva and Wellalage were out in the middle, India were running out of ideas and the 63-run stand for the seventh wicket brought the equation down to 52 in 75 balls. Then Dhananjaya gave India a sniff and Rohit seized on the opportunity.
As for Wellalage, he was better off farming the strike from the tail rather than allowing a run off the last ball. It all came back to hurt Sri Lanka.
People are comfortable that Sri Lanka will be better off during the World Cup when Hasaranga, Chameera and Madushanka return. Yes, the bowling will be formidable, but batters need to contribute as well and that’s been the problem.
Dimuth Karunaratne is in the side for one reason and that is to anchor the innings. He’s not impressing many people with his attempts to cute improvisations. He should leave it for the others and play the role that’s meant for him.
Hats off to the ground staff for the hard work they have put in and SLC’s Chief Curator Godfrey Dabare has done well to get the maximum out of hundred men who despite many challenges that weather presents have enabled us to see the tournament progress. They came in for special praise by Indian skipper Rohit Sharma as well. It seems that the Indian team will come up with a goodwill gesture towards the ground staff and SLC values their contributions too.
The volume of cricket that we have had and inclement weather that has persisted in the country hasn’t helped the curators to come up with belters filled with runs.
However, did we deliberately play the India game on Tuesday on an under prepared wicket? The reasoning is sound no doubt for if you prepare a belter, Rohit and Kohli will be hitting the ball out of Maligawatta. The best chance for Sri Lanka to beat the strong Indian outfit was a misbehaving wicket. But here’s the hitch.
When you go to the World Cup, you’ll be getting good batting surfaces and the bowlers will have a tough time adapting. Charith Asalanka taking four wickets was a bit too much to be real. We can create a few upsets at home, but let’s keep the bigger picture in mind.
Shaheen Shah Afridi is set to make his maiden appearance in the Lanka Premier League, which begins this week. The PCB confirmed to Cricinfo that the fast bowler has been granted an NOC to participate in the tournament. He will play for Kandy Royals.
Afridi – earlier this month – was omitted from Pakistan’s squads for the Tests against West Indies and England after an indifferent run in the format. The 26-year-old has of late been perceived as more inclined towards white-ball cricket, with Aaqib Javed, Pakistan selector and high-performance director, saying earlier this month that “a player has to pick which format he wants to play”. The Tests against the West Indies clash with the LPL.
Afridi was recently named in the ongoing white-ball camp at the National Cricket Academy, despite the red-ball camp being conducted simultaneously and was left out of the second Test against Bangladesh in Sylhet.
Afridi was named Pakistan’s ODI captain last year and led Pakistan to a 2-1 series win over Australia at home last month. He was joint-leading wicket-taker with seven scalps at 12.14 runs apiece alongside left-arm orthodox Arafat Minhas, who debuted in the first of the three ODIs, and Nathan Ellis.
This will be Afridi’s second appearance in an overseas T20 league in the last year. He participated in the most recent BBL, turning out for Brisbane Heat. He had a forgettable run, however, taking only two wickets at an average of 76.50 in four matches. However, he remains in demand on the T20 circuit; Afridi has 362 wickets at 20.99 and an economy rate of 7.97. No Pakistan bowler has more than his 136 wickets in T20Is, which have come at an average of 21.35 and an economy of 7.83.
The LPL will run from July 17 until August 8. Kandy Royals play their first match against Dambulla Sixers on July 18.
[Cricinfo]
Colombo Championships
Thishya Banagala of Visakha Vidyalaya and Kashya Seneviratne of Colombo International School emerged as the girls’ and boys’ Under-12 champions respectively at the Vision Care Colombo Championship 2026, played on the clay courts of the Sri Lanka Tennis Association.
Banagala produced a series of commanding performances on her way to the girls’ title. She sealed the championship with a convincing 6-2, 6-1 victory over Thiyansa de Silva in the final.
The boys’ final provided a far sterner challenge as Kashya Seneviratne overcame Abhine Induwara in an entertaining three-set battle. After taking the opening set 6-2, Seneviratne dropped the second set 4-6 before holding his nerve to win the deciding match tie-break 10-4 and secure the championship.
HONOUR – MCA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2026
Sampath Bank and Ceylinco General Insurance registered convincing wins in the Mercantile Cricket Associations Champions League matches played over the weekend.
‘The 2026 edition of the MCA Champions League [formally known as the MCA ‘C’ League] is being powered by ‘HONOUR’ mobile phones.
Last week’s matches were played at the Mercantile Association Grounds
On Saturday,
Sampath Bank defeat LOLC Holdings by 64 runs
Sampath Bank
173/10 in 48 overs [Sajith Kotuwegoda 66; Thilanga Udeshana 2-40, Vinud Madushan 3-26, Sayuru Udukumbura 2-27]
LOLC Holdings
109/10 in 26 overs [Danushka Udara 26*; Dulaj Ashen 2-14, Dileepa Jayalath 2-37, Sithija Silva 2-12, Chamath Dilsara 3-29]
On Sunday,
Ceylinco General Insurance overcome Commercial Bank by 2 wickets
Commercial Bank
167/10 in 47.2 overs [Gimhana Ashirwada 60; Sandaru Dias 4-21, Yohan Edirisinghe 2-24]
Ceylinco General Insurance
170/8 in 44.2 overs [Sandaru Dias 60*; Gayana Preethimal 2-36, Pasindu Denipitiya 3-24]
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