Sports

Hiran creates history against Royal, Chamindu’s marathon effort saves Petes

Published

3 years ago

2023/01/16

Thilina Walpola

St. Sebastian’s, Nalanda record victories

by Reemus Fernando

St. Joseph’s batsman Hiran Jayasundara, St. Peter’s opener Chamindu Perera and Nalanda bowler Minod Caldera recorded remarkable achievements for their respective schools in the Under 19 traditional matches completed over the weekend.

Jayasundara became the first batsman from any school in the history to score a double century against Royal in their traditional cricket encounter ended in a draw at Darley Road. According to Royal College statistician M.L. Fernando, the 199 runs scored by R. David from Wesley (1990) remained the highest score by a batsman from a rival school against Royal until Jayasundara scored the double century on Saturday. His unbeaten knock of 200 runs came in 309 balls (18x4s, 3x6s).

The Josephian also broke nearly a century old batting record in the historic Royal-St. Joseph’s series as he took under his belt the record for the highest individual score overtaking the 194 runs scored by L.D.S Gunasekara for Royal in 1925. The Josephian record in the series was the 174 runs scored by Milroy Brohier in 1952. The Joes amassed 414 runs for six wickets against Royal. The visitors made 311 for seven wickets at close as the 126th encounter, which is one of the oldest traditional matches in the country ended in a draw at Darley Road.

At Bambalapitiya, St. Peter’s were rescued by their open bat Chamindu Perera who batted the whole second day for the home team to force a draw to their match against Trinity. After Petes were reduced to 67 runs, Trinity took a firm grip posting 285 for six wickets declared. The Petes commenced the final day with a huge first innings deficit and Perera rose to the occasion as he anchored the batting line up with a dogged knock. His marathon innings propelled the home team to post 247 for five wickets at close. The Philip and Eddie Buultjens Trophy remained at Bambalapitiya.

At Campbell Place, Nalanda laid their hands on the Bandula Warnapura memorial trophy as Caldera collected a match bag of nine wickets to lead the team to ten wickets victory against Dharmaraja.

St. Sebastian’s pulled off a stunning two wickets win over formidable Mahanama in their match at Moratuwa as Sandeesh Fernando bagged nine wickets to for them to fight back. At Mount Lavinia, S. Thomas’ took batting honours against Wesley as Mahith Perera top scored for the home team in the Mahadevan Sathasivam memorial trophy encounter.

Match Results

S. Thomas-Wesley ends in draw at Mount Lavinia

Scores:

S. Thomas’ 312 for 6 decl. in 81 overs (Romesh Mendis 37, Romesh Mendis 37, Senesh Hettiarachchi 66, Mahith Perera 152n.o., Charuka Peiris 32n.o.; Sanithu Amarasinghe 2/53) and 204 for 5 in 42.4 overs (Sadev Soysa 32, Thisen Ehaliyagoda 22, Romesh Mendis 81, Dineth Goonewardene 47; Sanithu Amarasinghe 2/35)

Wesley 226 all out in 69.4 overs (Sanithu Amarasinghe 58, Chamath Gomez 37, Anuga Pahansara 30, Nilupul Liyanage 25n.o.; Abheeth Paranawidana 2/47, Charuka Peiris 2/48, Kavindu Dias 2/28, Akash Fernando 3/43)

A draw at Sooriyawewa

Scores:

Lumbini 217 all out in 65.4 overs (Dhanitha Sandeth 49, Shahan Kaushalya 62, Yasiru Yugath 30; Puljith Wathuska 4/79, Irushka Thimira 4/68) and 169 for 9 in 47 overs (Dhanitha Sandeth 55, Malith Kawindu 35, Dumindu Sewmina 26; Irushka Thimira 3/38, Pathum Shaminda 2/24, Gimhan Rasanjana 3/32)

Devapathiraja 295 all out in 84.2 overs (Yasiru Lakshan 24, Pawan Sandesh 90, Jeewaka Shashen 54, Gimhan Rasanjana 35, Irushka Thimira 47; Dumindu Sewmina 2/51, K B Sathmina 2/24, Sasanka Nethmina 2/82, Malith Kawindu 4/71)

Chamindu saves St. Peter’s at Bambalapitiya

Scores:

St. Peter’s 67 all out in 29 overs (Nimutu Gunawardana 14, Sanshay Gunathilaka 14; Manula Kularathna 2/26, Kavindu Jayaratne 3/26, Dinuka Tennakoon 2/01, Theeraka Ranathunga 2/06) and 247 for 5 in 105 overs (Chamindu Perera 82n.o., Vishen Helambage 43, Nimutu Gunawardana 23, Kavika Jayasundara 28, Shennan Rodrigo 17n.o.; Wathila Udara 2/28)

Trinity 285 for 6 decl. in 71 overs (Kusal Wijethunga 45, Supun Waduge 65, Dinusha Peiris 70, Manula Kularathna 55; Shennan Rodrigo 2/83, Nimutu Gunawardana 3/32)

St. Sebastian’s stun Mahanama at Moratuwa

Scores:

Mahanama 211 all out in 58.1 overs (Kavindu Amameth 41, Inuka Karannagoda 35, Anjala Bandara 57; Sandeesh Fernando 3/41, Manuja Chanthuka 5/52) and 121 all out in 28.1 overs (Banula Algawatte 32, Rashmika Perera 50; Manuja Chanthuka 2/56, Sandeesh Fernando 6/44, Yashin Fernando 2/13)

St. Sebastian’s 135 all out in 53.5 overs (Adesh Almeda 35, Sanesh Fernando 35, Mahen Silva 25; Duvindu Ranathunga 3/43, Viranga Yeshan 4/38, Inuka Karannagoda 2/23) and 198 for 8 in 54 overs (Vimath Dinsara 69, Mahen Silva 31, Sasindu Prarthana 41; Viranga Yeshan 4/76)

Hiran breaks records at Darley Road

Scores:

St. Joseph’s 414 for 6 in 116.4 overs (Naren Muralidaran 47, Hiran Jayasundara 200, Muditha Dissanayaka 73, Hirun Matheesha 21, Lahiru Amarasekara 21; Dan Poddiwela 2/42, Anush Polonowita 2/36)

Royal 311 for 7 in 84 overs (Sineth Jayawardena 27, Rehan Peiris 62, Sanvidu Senaratharachchi 78, Uvindu Weerasekara 64, Dasis Manchanayake 27; Yenula Dewtusa 2/95, Gagan Chamodh 2/24)

Nalanda win Bandula Warnapura memorial trophy at Campbell Place

Scores:

Dharmaraja 97 all out in 44.5 overs (Onajith Siva 26; Minod Caldera 6/32, Sajitha Vithanage 2/11) and 167 all out in 45.4 overs (Pulindu Perera 36, Isuru Pannala 31, Dulara Bandulasena 26, Thisaru Wanninayake 43; Minod Caldera 3/70, Eranga Jayakodi 3/32)

Nalanda 208 all out in 66.1 overs (Yasiru Samarakoon 49, Sadew Samarasinghe 45, Eranga Jayakody 26, Sajitha Vithanage 25, Thisara Dewdunu 20; Nisala Abeyrathne 2/32, Thisaru Wanninayake 2/62, Pulindu Perera 4/08, Kalana Herath 2/42) and 57 for no loss in 11.4 overs (Rusiru Vilochana 30n.o., Yasiru Samarakoon 27n.o.)

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Klaasen fifty, Travishek onslaught hand Sunrisers Hyderabad first points of the season

Published

2 hours ago

2026/04/3

Priyan

Heinrich Klaasen scored 52 off 35 balls [Cricinfo]

Sunrisers Hyderabad [SRH] became the first team in IPL 2026 to successfully defend a total, and for that, they had to post 226 for 8, the highest score of the season so far. Even that did not look safe at one point, but in the end, Kolkata Knight Riders [KKR] fell short by 65 runs.

Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma set the platform for SRH by adding 82 in 5.4 overs. Head made 46 off 21 balls, and Abhishek 48 off 21. KKR did make a comeback in the middle overs, but Heinrich Klassen’s 52 off 35 deliveries ensured they picked up 51 in the last four overs.

Finn Allen, batting on the same strip where he had scored a blazing hundred against South Africa in the T20 World Cup semi-final, started the chase by smashing 24 runs off David Payne. But Harsh Dubey had him caught and bowled from the other end. Angkrish Raghuvanshi’s 27-ball fifty steered KKR to 110 for 3 in ten overs, but his run-out soon after proved to be the turning point. Rinku Singh’s brief resistance was futile, and KKR were eventually all out for 161 in 16 overs.

Ajinkya Rahane, playing his 200th IPL match, opted to bowl after winning the toss. Vaibhav Arora started with three dots, beating Head’s outside edge on all three occasions. But that was the proverbial calm before the storm. Head pulled the last ball of the over for four before picking two more fours off Blessing Muzarabani in the next over.

Muzarabani was trying the short-ball ploy that had worked for Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Jacob Duffy against the same opposition in the tournament opener, but it backfired here. Abhishek rubbed it in by pulling yet another short ball from Muzarabani for a six.

After Head smashed two sixes and two fours in Vaibhav’s next over, Rahane turned to spin. Sunil Narine conceded only three runs from the fourth over, and even induced a miscue from Head, but it landed safely. However, Abhishek took Varun Chakravarthy apart from the other end, hitting two sixes and three fours in a 25-run over.

Kartik Tyagi ended the stand by dismissing Head, but not before the batter had smashed him for a four and a six. SRH finished the powerplay on 84 for 1.

Muzarabani pulled things back for KKR by dismissing Ishan Kishan and Abhishek in the space of three balls. Kishan was caught at deep cover, and Abhishek at deep square leg, where Varun dived forward to complete a low catch. The third umpire had multiple looks at it before deciding it in KKR’s favour.

In the next over, Anukul Roy had Aniket Verma caught at long-off to make it 118 for 4. After that, Klaasen and Nitish Kumar Reddy decided to go into consolidation mode. As a result, only 37 runs came from overs 10 to 14.

Klaasen and Reddy picked up a four each off Narine in the 15th over, but Tyagi gave away only seven runs in the next. When Vaibhav conceded only three off the first five balls of the 17th over, it started looking like the final flourish might never come. But his final ball was in the slot for Reddy, who launched it over the bowler’s head for a six.

Klaasen then reverse-lapped Tyagi over deep third for a six, before Reddy hit him for back-to-back fours. Vaibhav hurt SRH by dismissing Reddy and Salil Arora off successive deliveries, but Klaasen, with the help of Dubey and Shivang Kumar, took them past 220.

Allen gave KKR the start they needed, with 25 runs coming off the first over. While Rahane was struggling and eventually fell for 8 off ten balls, Raghuvanshi didn’t let the scoring rate drop. He hit two sixes off Abhishek in the third over, and smashed back-to-back fours off Jaydev Unadkat in the fifth. After five overs, KKR were 67 for 2.

Cameron Green, though, was run out in the following over. As Raghuvanshi drove one back towards Eshan Malinga, the two batters set off, only to find the bowler had stopped the ball with his boot. Both Raghuvanshi and Green froze for a moment before deciding to keep running. Malinga picked the ball up and broke the stumps. Initially, it looked like Raghuvanshi, who was running towards the non-striker’s end, was run out. But the TV umpire found out the batters hadn’t crossed when the wicket was broken, and it was Green who was out.

Raghuvanshi and Rinku, though, kept the chase on track, and took KKR to 100 in nine overs, with SRH’s poor ground fielding also contributing towards it.

Soon after that, Reddy got rid of Roy and Rinku in back-to-back overs. Narine and Ramandeep Singh took KKR to 155 for 6 in the 15th over, before falling to Malinga’s slower balls. Unadkat then wrapped up the win with two wickets in two balls.

Brief scores:
Sunrisers Hyderabad 226 for 8 in 20 overs (Heinrich Klaasen 52, Abhishek Sharma 48, Travis Head 46, Ishan Kishan 14, Nitish Kumar Reddy 39; Vaibhav Arora 2-47, Blessing Muzarabani 4-41, Kartik Tyagi 1-48, Anukul Roy 1-16) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 161 in 16 overs (Finn Allen 28, Angkrish Raghuvanshi 52, Rinku Singh 35, Ramandeep Singh 10, Sunil Narine 12; Harsh Dubey 1-17, Jaydev Unadkat 3-21, Eshan Malinga 2-14, Nitish Kumar Reddy 2-17) by 65 runs

Eshan Malinga and Shivang Kumar celebrate after running out Angkrish Raghuvanshi [Cricinfo]

[Cricinfo]

Sports

Nuwan Thushara files lawsuit against SLC for IPL NOC

Published

4 hours ago

2026/04/3

Priyan

Nuwan Thushara was denied NOC to play in the IPL for RCB (BCCI)

Sri Lanka fast bowler Nuwan Thushara has filed a lawsuit in the Colombo District Court against Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) after he was denied a no objection certificate (NOC) to play in the IPL as a result of failing new and stricter fitness tests.

Thushara’s legal argument centres around his contract with SLC ending on March 31, 2026 – after which he intended to step away from international cricket – making the enforcement of an NOC for SLC unreasonable and a barrier to his livelihood. While Thushara’s argument notes the loss of income from missing the IPL – he’s part of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) squad – the timing of the legal action has almost certainly ruled him out of the tournament.

The case, in which SLC president Shammi Silva, secretary Bandula Dissanayake, treasurer Sujeewa Godaliyadda and CEO Ashley de Silva have been named defendants, is set to be taken up again on April 9. That date is the earliest the case can be heard as Sri Lanka’s courts will be closed over the Easter weekend, and even then it is extremely unlikely that it will be settled in a single hearing. This means Thushara will at the very least miss two more weeks of the IPL, which began on March 28.

ICC regulations stipulate that an NOC from a home board is required to participate in overseas leagues, but they do not mention specific criteria a home board must use to grant or deny it. The ICC leaves the conditions for issuing an NOC to the discretion of the individual boards. This allows boards to follow their own internal policies for granting the NOC; for example, SLC has previously denied NOCs based on players being allowed to participate in two overseas leagues a year.

The question of whether SLC can legally withhold that certificate from a player who is no longer under a central contract is now set to be tested. As per legal documents seen by ESPNcricinfo, SLC had formally informed Thushara that he would not be granted an NOC on March 24. Thushara claims to have requested an NOC multiple times, verbally and in writing on March 15 and 23, before eventually being denied. While SLC is yet to respond to his follow-up on March 28, Thushara claims he was informed unofficially that he would once again be denied the NOC.

SLC’s reasoning centres around its new mandatory fitness requirements, which have been spearheaded by the selection committee led by former fast bowler Pramodya Wickramasinghe following Sri Lanka’s poor performance in the recent Men’s T20 World Cup.

There are five components to the SLC fitness test: a 2 kilometre run, 20 metre sprint, a 5-0-5 agility test, a skinfold test, and a counter movement jump (CMJ). Each of these tests allows for a player to gain a maximum of 29 points total – players need to attain at least 17 points to be considered for selection – with the 2km run and skinfold test holding the most weight.

“If you fair poorly in those two, it will be very hard to pass,” a SLC source told ESPNcricinfo. These tests have been a regular part of player training since 2021. However, they were not used as strict selection criteria, rather as a guide, particularly when making calls between two similarly skilled players.

Central to Thushara’s argument is that such fitness requirements were not a prerequisite for an NOC in the past, and that his current fitness levels are consistent with what he has maintained over his career, including in 2024 and 2025 when SLC had granted him NOCs.

Thushara’s case has similarities to that of South Africa’s Tabraiz Shamsi, who took Cricket South Africa (CSA) to the Johannesburg High Court in December 2025. He was not centrally contracted by CSA and had withdrawn from an SA20 league contract. CSA refused to grant him a full-duration NOC to play in the rival International League T20 (ILT20), aiming to protect its own tournament’s player pool. Shamsi argued that because he held no active contract with either CSA or the SA20 franchise, the board’s withholding of the NOC was an act of “bad faith” to protect its own commercial interests. The South African High Court sided with Shamsi, issuing an interim order forcing CSA to grant the full NOC, setting a major precedent for global player mobility.

The Shamsi ruling proved that when a player is outside a central contract, a board cannot use the ICC’s NOC policy purely to protect its commercial interests. Thushara’s case takes this a step further, and asks whether a board can legally enforce its internal selection policies on a player who has walked away from the national set-up.

(Cricinfo)

Sports

Rehan’s 146 guides Royal to 319 on day one

Published

5 hours ago

2026/04/3

Thilina Walpola

Rehan Peiris

A superb knock of 146 runs by Rehan Peiris held the Royal College top order together as they posted 319 in their first innings on day one of the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ quarter-final against Mahanama College at the D.H.H. Ground, Madampella on Thursday.

‎Royal looked set for a strong start before three quick wickets disrupted their progress and left the innings in a difficult position. With the early damage threatening to derail the innings, Rehan stepped up with a determined batting effort to guide the recovery.

‎Rehan first stitched together a useful partnership with Ramiru Perera to stabilize the innings before combining with Thevindu Wewalwala for a crucial fifth wicket stand worth 117 runs. The partnership proved vital in helping Royal regain control and build a competitive total.

‎Wewalwala provided excellent support with a solid 57, while Hirun Matheesha contributed 28 runs and Ramiru Perera added 27 to strengthen the innings around Rehan’s impressive knock.

‎For Mahanama, Venura Kaveethra was the pick of the bowlers with a five wicket haul, finishing with figures of 5 for 86, while Chamika Heenatigala chipped in with two wickets.

‎At stumps on the opening day, Mahanama were four for no loss.

‎‎Scores

‎Royal – 319 all out in 87.2 overs

‎(Rehan Peiris 146, Thevindu Wewalwala 57, Hirun Matheesha 28, Ramiru Perera 27; Venura Kaveethra 5/86, Chamika Heenatigala 2/80)

‎Mahanama – 4 for no loss at stumps.

‎‎Wesley book semi-final spot

‎‎Wesley booked a semi-final berth in the Under 19 Division I Tier B tournament as they overcame formidable Devapathiraja Rathgama with a convincing 107 runs victory at Katuneriya on Thursday.

‎‎Scores:

‎Wesley

197 all out in 52.1 overs (Shamma Fernando 23, Rasheed Nahyan 34, Rashmika Amararathna 30, Lithum Senuja 24, Senura Lakshan 27; Sandaru Lakshan 3/71, Puljith Wathsuka 4/31, Harsha Madusanka 2/13) and 219 all out in 64.4 overs (Rashmika Amararathna 43, Senura Lakshan 37, Lavindu Hettiarachchi 41, Dinuja Samararathna 31; Sandaru Malshan 6/88, Diyath Sanjitha 4/46)

‎Devapathiraja

142 all out in 57.1 overs (Diyath Sanjitha 20, Arosha Sithumina 33, Sandaru Malshan 30; Rashmika Amararathna 4/23, Aadhyan Zian 4/34) and 167 all out in 60.3 overs (Sandaru Malshan 22, Yasiru Lakshan 71, Gimhan Rasanjana 31; Aadhyan Zian 2/25, Dinuja Samararathna 4/52)

(RF)