Sports
Giant killers Devapathiraja meet unbeaten Mahanama
Under 17 Division I Cricket Final
Giant killers Devapathiraja College Ratgama will encounter unbeaten Mahanama College, Colombo in the final of the Under 17 Division I Cricket tournament at Thurstan ground, Colombo today.Devapathiraja led by dynamic all-rounder Arosha Sithumina have been enjoying remarkable success this season. They are in their first ever Division I final after having turned tables on some of the powerhouses of schools cricket. Their rivals, Mahanama too have enjoyed similar success but have reached Under 17 Division I finals before. Their most recent final was in 2019. They went onto win the title that year.
If the recent records of the two teams are of any indication to the exceptional form they are in, an absorbing contest could be expected.
Devapathiraja’s journey to the final was remarkable. Some of the teams Devapathiraja eliminated during the business end of the tournament have been playing school cricket for more than a century. In contrast, only a couple of decades have passed after Devapathiraja started taking cricket seriously. The passion with which they have been playing this season has powered them to a position no other Devapathiraja team has ever reached.
They thrashed some of their first round opponents by big margins. They beat Rahula College, Matara (by 210 runs), Richmond (by 96 runs) and Vidyaloka (by 128 runs) in the first round. Their only blemish was a nine wicket defeat to Mahinda in a 20 overs match.
During the knockout stage, Devapathiraja beat St. Servatius’ (by 7 wickets), St. Sebastian’s, Moratuwa (by 4 wickets), St. Benedict’s (by 43 runs) and Nalanda (by 9 wickets).
A prominent feature in the Devapathiraja line up this season is the major contributions made by the top order batsmen.
Sithumina with three half centuries and a belligerent 150 (in 97 balls), Sandaru Malshan with three half centuries, Puljith Wathsuka and Yasiru Lakshan with two half centuries each and Oshen Kalhara have contributed well with the bat.
Left-arm spinner Harsha Madushanka and off-spinner Puljith Wathsuka lead the bowling charts for Devapathiraja, while new ball bowler Sasrika Nethuranga, Sandaru Malshan and Arosha Sithumina have made notable contributions.
Mahanama captained by Thaviru Perera reached the knockout stage as the champions of their group. They were in terrific form from the start, if the analysis of the first match was of any indication to their real strength. They bundled out S. Thomas’ Mount Lavinia for 72 runs within ten overs before sealing three wickets victory to takeoff.
They beat S. Thomas’ (by 3 wickets), Christ King Ja Ela (by 7 wickets), De Mazenod (by 56 runs) and Asoka Vidyalaya (by 102 runs) in the first round.
During the knockout stage they eliminated Sandalankawa Central (by 9 wickets), Mahinda (by 3 wickets), Maris Stella (by 8 wickets) and Royal (by 5 wickets) respectively.
Sineth Weeraratne with a century, Kaushika Thilakarathne with valuable 30s and a half century, Sanul Weeraratne, Yashen Gunathilake and Tharun Munaweera have made notable contributions with the bat.
Vimash Madanayake, Kaushika Thilakarathne, Achintha Lakshan, Thaviru Perera and Thenuja Rashmin are the bowlers to watch in the Mahanama camp.
Teams
Mahanama (from) :
Thaviru Perera (Captain), Dulneth Algewatte, Sanul Weerarathna, Kaushika Thilakarathne, Sineth Weerarathne, Yashen Gunathilake, Vimash Madanayake, Vihanga Perera, Achintha Lakshan, Tharun Munaweera, Janidu Kevitiyagala, Danupa Jithen, Sandil Methnula, Binara Edirisinghe, Tharindu Abesekara, Thenuja Rashmin, Binula Pannila.
Officials:
Akila Bandara Rajapaksha (Master in Charge), Ashan Priyanjan (Head Coach), Dulshan Elwalage (Asst. coach).
Devapathiraja (from) :
Arosha Sithumina (Captain), Yasiru Lakshan, Puljith Wathsuka, Sandaru Malshan, Oshen Kalhara, Harsha Madusanka, Nethusha Nirmal, Kaweeshwara Abegunawardana, Sasrika Abegunawardana, Vihanga Nimsara, Adeesha Sanjana, Hirusha Pramod.
Officials:
Charuka Gunathilake (Teacher in Charge), Ranjan Lasantha (Head Coach), Sudheera Weerarathne (Asst. Coach), Tharindu Rukshan (Asst. Coach).
by Reemus Fernando ✍️
Sri Lanka women will tour the West Indiesfor a multi-format white-ball series in February-March. The tour will consist of three ODIs and three T20Is between February 20 to March 3.
All six games of the tour will be played at Grenada National Stadium. The first ODI will be on February 20, followed by games on February 22 and 25. The T20I series then starts on February 28, followed by games on March 1 and 3.
The T20I series, in particular, will be crucial as both teams look to build their prep towards the 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup in the UK this summer. Both West Indies and Sri Lanka are in Group 2 of the competition alongside hosts England, New Zealand and two qualifiers not yet determined.
Sri Lanka will be looking to win their first T20I series since their Asia Cup triumph of 2024. West Indies have won their last two T20I series at home against Bangladesh and South Africa.
Sri Lanka last toured the Caribbean for an ODI and T20I series in 2024. That tour saw the visitors win the ODIs 3-0 and the hosts claim the T20Is 2-1.
[Cricinfo]
Cricket Scotland has received assurances that the ICC is working “very, very hard” to ensure Scotland’s players will be granted Indian visas in time for their opening T20 World Cup fixture on February 7 – including fast bowler Safyaan Shariff, who has Pakistani heritage.
Scotland were the beneficiaries of Bangladesh’s last-minute withdrawal from the World Cup as the highest-ranked team who had not already qualified, and named a 15-man squad on Monday afternoon which is due to fly to India later this week.
The state of political and diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan has resulted in regular delays for Pakistani nationals or those with Pakistani heritage when applying for Indian visas in recent years, including several cricketers.
But Cricket Scotland is confident that Sharif – who was born in Huddersfield to a Pakistani father and a British-Pakistani mother before moving to Scotland aged seven – will be granted a visa in time for the team’s opening match against West Indies in Kolkata.
“We are all committed [to] working with the ICC to make that happen,” Trudy Lindblade, Cricket Scotland’s chief executive, said on Monday. “The visa piece is always slightly an unknown, and it doesn’t matter whether you’ve got three days or whether you’ve got 45 days.
“Certainly that’s been our focus in the last 48 hours: just getting those visas done so our players are all ready to go. They’re all in the middle of submitting their visas and we will be there on the ground in India as quickly as we can, so it’s just a matter of time now.
“[The ICC] can only give us the assurances of the bits that they can control and, absolutely, of the bits that they control, we are working with them and obviously they’re working with the BCCI and local people on the ground there to make sure that we are getting all of that support that we need.
“So, absolutely, [they have given] the assurance that they can provide of things that were in their control. There is a team working very, very hard to not just help us, but to help 19 other teams as well that are also going to a World Cup. But we are their intense focus right now.”
Scotland will also apply for visas for two travelling reserves and three non-travelling reserves so that they will be able to field a team even in the event of delays and their head of performance, Steve Snell, said that the ICC had been “fantastic” in supporting their hurried preparations.
“We also anticipate some support whenever we can [get it] from the BCCI,” Snell said. “I don’t think we need to escalate that any further to get into the country, because you’d suggest that Scotland being invited to attend the World Cup and then not being able to get there wouldn’t be a great look for anybody.”
There are three changes to Scotland’s squad since the 2024 T20 World Cup, when they narrowly missed out on qualification for the Super 8s, with 19-year-old Afghanistan-born fast bowler Zainullah Ihsan in line for an international debut after winning his maiden call-up.
Tom Bruce, who played 17 T20Is for New Zealand as a middle-order batter from 2017 to 2020, is another significant inclusion, having switched allegiance to Scotland last year and made his ODI debut for them in August.
Chris Sole, the express fast bowler, is a notable absentee. Sole, who has regularly registered speeds in excess of 90mph/145kph, has played franchise cricket in the ILT20 and the CPL and featured for Scotland at their last World Cup appearance, but has not played a professional match since late 2024 as he focuses on a non-playing career in recruitment.
Ihsan, Bruce and batter Finlay McCreath are the three players involved who did not feature in the 2024 T20 World Cup squad, replacing Sole, Oli Haris and Jack Jarvis (who is one of the travelling reserves).
Hampshire seamer Scott Currie, who played three ODIs in early 2024, was not considered as he is no longer eligible for selection.
Currie, whose older brother Brad is part of the squad, was picked by England for their T20I series against Ireland in September and while he did not win a cap, the fact that he was named as an official substitute on their teamsheet renders him unavailable for Scotland until September 2028 under ICC regulations.
Scotland are due to play warm-up matches against Afghanistan and Namibia in Bengaluru on February 2 and 4 before their opening fixture against West Indies in Kolkata. Their other first-round matches are against Italy, England and Nepal, with the top two teams in Group B then qualifying for the Super 8s stage.
“The squad selection is subject to all player and staff visa applications being approved,” Cricket Scotland said in a statement. “Given the limited notice for Scotland’s participation at the tournament and timescale for selecting players, two travelling reserves have been selected while three others will be non-travelling reserves.”
Scotland squad for T20 World Cup:
Richie Berrington (capt), Tom Bruce, Matthew Cross, Brad Currie, Oli Davidson, Chris Greaves, Zainullah Ihsan, Michael Jones, Michael Leask, Finlay McCreath, Brandon McMullen, George Munsey, Safyaan Sharif, Mark Watt, Brad Wheal
Travelling reserves: Jasper Davidson, Jack Jarvis
Non-travelling reserves: Mackenzie Jones, Chris McBride, Charlie Tear
[Cricinfo]
England won the toss and chose to bat first in the deciding ODI in Colombo. Although England won the previous game chasing, the Khettarama surface tends to slow under lights, leading to its reputation as a notoriously difficult venue on which to bat second. Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka also chose to bat first when he won the toss in the first two ODIs.
Sri Lanka made one change to the XI that lost on Saturday, jettisoning seam bowler Pramod Madushan to include spin-bowling allrounder Wanidu Hasaranga, who had been rested for the first two games. This means Sri Lanka have only one frontline seamer – Asitha Fernando – in their XI, though part-time seam bowler Janith Liyanage is also in the side. The hosts also bat deep, with Hasaranga and Dunith Wellalage likely to be No. 8 and 9.
England are unchanged from Saturday, which means legspinning allrounder Rehan Ahmed again opens in place of Zak Crawley.
Blue skies prevailed over the toss at Khettarama. Though evening showers are always possible in Colombo, January tends to be among the drier months.
England: Rehan Ahmed, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook (capt.), Jos Buttler (wk), Will Jacks, Sam Curran, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid
Sri Lanka: Kamil Mishara, Pathum Nissanka, Kusal Mendis (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka (capt.), Janith Liyanage, Pavan Rathnayake, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Jeffrey Vandersay, Asitha Fernando
[Cricinfo]
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