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Matheesha; cricket’s latest sensation

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3 years ago

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by Rex Clementine

We’ve heard it from cricket’s supremo M.S. Dhoni that young fast bowling sensation Matheesha Pathirana should get nowhere near red ball cricket. There would have been quite a furore had Kumar Sangakkara or Mahela Jayawardene said it. Remember the reaction when they echoed similar sentiments in the case of Lasith Malinga all those years ago. But with talents like Matheesha and Malinga it seems a sensible move. Afterall, Sanga and MJ rarely get their facts wrong.

As with Matheesha, already he has had his share of injuries and missed quite a few campaigns for Sri Lanka. He has featured in just one T-20 International so far in Sri Lankan colours which was against Afghanistan last year during the Asia Cup.

Matheesha was set to play the T-20 series in New Zealand in March, but he tested positive for COVID and had to be isolated. Matheesha was sold for the base price of US$ 25,000 in the IPL. He will fetch the same amount next season. But here’s the trick. The season after, when there’s an auction, he could fetch a princely sum. If Chennai Super Kings opt to retain him, which they will most probably do, he will get as much as US$ 1 million. But if he is third in the list of retained players then that amount goes up to US$ 1.2 million. Not bad for a 20-year-old.

The story from Madras is that CSK are quite thrilled with their young fast bowling sensation. The franchise is owned by India Cements boss N. Srinivasan, one time President of the International Cricket Council.

Isn’t that a strange world we live in. Not so long ago, Sri Lankans were persona non grata in Madras. Sri Lankan players couldn’t feature for their IPL teams if the games were in Madras. Since 2005, the Sri Lankan team hasn’t played a game in Madras. Time was when a game in Madras for Sri Lanka was a must.

But that’s the beauty of sports. No matter how hard politicians try, when young sensations like Matheesha come, fans embrace them and politicians are watchful to go against the public opinion. Matheesha has become a household name from Madras to Madurai.

Matheesha hails from Harispattuwa. His family is heavily into music. While the father plays the piano, his mother and two sisters are accomplished guitarists. Matheesha too can play the piano.

There was a generation of youngsters who emulated Wasim Akram as their hero. Even right-arm seamers used to carry the ball in their left-hand and change it to right-hand as they leaped up to deliver. The only problem was most of us never had the pace or the accuracy of Sultan of Swing. Cricketing gods have been extra kind to Pakistan gifting them with so many fast bowling talents.

The modern generation tried to copy Malinga. It is one thing copying Malinga but quite a tough one to generate that pace. Matheesha was able to do it. He was at the little heard Ranabima Royal when Trinity College in Kandy sent word to district coaches to recommend them a good fast bowler. They were feeling the pinch since Lahiru Kumara had left school.

Trinity coach Kavinda Jayasuriya was quite excited by what he saw and former Trinity captain Bilal Fassy facilitated the move. By then, Chaminda Vaas, that excellent spotter of fast bowling talent, had invited Matheesha to Colombo, but his parents were reluctant to part ways with their child. Trinity in their hometown sounded like a sensible move.

In his first game for Trinity, Matheesha picked up five for 11 against St. Servatius, Matara. Someone recorded Matheesha’s action and the video went viral. It went so viral that it ended up in M.S. Dhoni’s phone.

Impressed by what he saw, Dhoni wanted Matheesha at the CSK camp as a net bowler. There was a problem in getting him to UAE where the IPL was played that season as the COVID vaccine that UAE was accepting wasn’t available in Sri Lanka at that time. But Professor Arjuna de Silva’s expertise came in handy and soon the vaccine was administered to Matheesha. But there was another hurdle.

Trinity was unwilling to send Matheesha to CSK ranks as he was still a school kid. However, after much convincing he was given permission. Afterall, you don’t turn down Dhoni.

Harsha Bhogle, the popular Indian commentator is trying to give Dhoni all the credit for grooming Matheesha. Yes, no doubt that the fast bowler is in safe hands but the grooming of this talent happened in Sri Lanka and not in Madras.

Vaas, Fassy, Chris Silverwood, the coaches at Trinity and SLC’s District and Provincial coaches need to be given much credit for unearthing and developing another rare talent.


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Sameer Rizvi arrives in the IPL to guide Delhi Capitals home in low-scoring chase

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1 hour ago

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2026/04/2

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Sameer Rizvi dominated the back-end of the innings [BCCI]

An unbeaten 70 from Sameer Rizvi proved decisive in a low-scoring contest in Lucknow, where Delhi Capitals (DC) became the first away team to win a match in IPL 2026.  Coming in as Impact Player, Rizvi joined forces with Tristan Stubbs to haul DC out of trouble, after Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) had reduced them to 26 for 4 in a chase of 142.

That target proved far too small in the end, but for a while, it looked imposing as LSG’s fast bowlers swung the ball for an unusually extended length of time for a T20 contest. A red-soil surface, which seemed to quicken up in the second innings, offered seam movement too. Mohammed Shami, Prince Yadav and Mohsin Khan kept tying DC’s batters in knots.

But the seamers couldn’t keep bowling forever, and the introduction of spin turned the match decisively. LSG bowled only 2.1 overs of spin, but they went for 35 runs, with Rizvi hitting four fours and two sixes in them. That included the winning hit off the first ball of the 18th over.

DC’s other heroes on the night were their bowlers, who kept LSG to a sub-par total on a surface that played differently in the two halves of the match. If it was quick and skiddy during the second innings, it was two-paced and grippy in the first. DC’s bowlers made excellent, collective use of it. The highlight of their performance was a dipping slower ball from  Lungi Ngidi,, which comprehensively bowled the dangerous Nicholas Pooran: that moment alone may have been shaved 20 or 30 runs off the target DC eventually chased.

Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram were one of the best opening partnerships of IPL 2025, but LSG decided to mix things up to start the new season, with their captain Rishabh Pant walking out alongside Marsh.

Their association was short-lived, with a deflection off Mukesh Kumar’s hand turning what could have been the caught-and-bowled dismissal of Marsh into the run-out dismissal of Pant at the non-striker’s end in the third over.

That moment came in the middle of a skillful display from Mukesh, who moved the ball around, tied Marsh down by denying him width or anything short, and conceded just 17 runs in three powerplay overs.

Axar Patel came on right after Pant’s dismissal and bowled two powerplay overs himself; this surely wouldn’t have happened if LSG had sent in Pooran to replace the left-handed Pant. Instead, they sent in Markram, and Axar bowled him in his second over, beating an attempted cut with his skid and angle.

LSG lost a third wicket soon after the powerplay, with Ayush Badoni – who walked in ahead of Pooran at No. 4 – nicking off to T Natarajan. LSG were 49 for 3.

After Ngidi sneaked his slower ball through Pooran, Marsh continued to struggle for fluency. He got into the 30s with a slog-swept six off Kuldeep Yadav in the 10th over, but he was beaten in flight while attempting another big hit later in the over, and holed out for 35 off 28.

From there, LSG’s innings was a slow slide to an early finish, with the constant loss of wickets forcing them into a tactical compromise. Shahbaz Ahmed, the left-arm-spin-bowling allrounder, walked in as their Impact Player, and put on the longest partnership of the innings – 26 balls, producing 33 runs – with top-scorer Abdul Samad. While it helped extend the LSG innings, it meant there would be no role in the match for mystery spinner Digvesh Rathi.

LSG were bowled out with eight balls unused, with Ngidi finishing the innings with back-to-back slower-ball wickets in the 19th over.

One of the biggest factors behind LSG’s disappointing 2025 season was a spate of injuries to their fast bowlers. This time around, they began with all their quicks fit, and their resources stretched far enough for them to leave out Mayank Yadav.

The three Indian fast bowlers who played ahead of him all got the new ball to move prodigiously. Shami sent back KL Rahul first ball, caught at deep backward point off a wide outswinger, Mohsin produced seam movement and bounce to have Nitish Rana jabbing to slip, and Prince ripped out Pathum Nissanka and Axar Patel off back-to-back legal deliveries.

Those two wicket balls came in an over that also included three wides, and that was another measure of how much the ball was swinging, in its fifth over. It continued to swing right through the first 10 overs of DC’s chase.

The bowling and conditions put Rizvi – preferred as Impact Player over Karun Nair and Ashutosh Sharma – through the wringer initially. He took 10 balls to get off strike, and was on 5 off 13 when he played his first stroke of any confidence, a ramped six off an Anrich Nortje bouncer.

The smallness of DC’s target allowed Rizvi and Stubbs to just keep batting without needing to take risks. And they knew LSG would have to bowl spin at some point – and that they didn’t have their first-choice spinner, Rathi.

Shahbaz came on in the 10th over, and Rizvi took full control, helped by some poor bowling. Shahbaz strayed down the leg side twice and bowled one long-hop, and Rizvi hit all three balls for four. With 16 coming off that over, DC only needed 65 off the last 10.

Runs continued to come slowly off the fast bowlers – Mohsin, at one stage, had figures of 3-1-6-1 – but DC knew there would be more overs of spin to come. With 49 needed off the last seven overs, LSG brought on Markram, and again Rizvi took charge, launching him for a six down the ground before back-cutting him for four.

With only one possible way back into the game, LSG’s quicks became desperate for wickets. In response, Rizvi and Stubbs put away a series of short balls from Mohsin and Nortje in the 16th and 17th overs to all but seal the game. When Samad came on to bowl the 18th, DC only needed three runs.

Brief scores:
Delhi Capitals 145 for 4 in 17.1 overs (Nitish Rana 15, Sameer Rizvi 70*, Tristan Stubbs 39*; Mohammed Shami 1-28,  Prince Yadav  2-20, Mohsin Khan 1-19) beat Lucknow Super Giants 141 in 18.4 overs  (Abdul Samad 36, Mitchell Marsh 35, Aiden Markram 11, Mukul Choudhary 14, Shabnaz Ahmed 15*;  Lungi Ngidi 3-27, Axar Patel 1-17, Thangarasu Natarajan 3-29, Kuldeep Yadav 2-31) by six wickets

[Cricinfo]

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Colts win First Class title

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3 hours ago

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2026/04/2

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Major Club 3-Day League 2025 - Champions - Colts CC

Colombo Colts Cricket Club finished off the First Class season with flying colours with their unbeaten run enabling them to win the title. Colts played seven games in the Super Eight segment and won one and drew seven games. Ace Capital gave them stiff competition and finished second.

Former Sri Lanka Under-19 cricketer Wanuja Sahan capped off a sensational season as he was Player of the Tournament. Sahan captured 54 wickets in ten games with his left-arm spin and produced 484 runs with the bat.

Major Club 3-Day League 2025 – Most Valuable Player – Wanuja Sahan, Ace Capital

NCC’s Lahiru Udara continued to top run charts amassing 908 runs in ten matches averaging 60 in ten games with one double hundred and three centuries.

Dilum Sudeera of Police was named Best Bowler after finishing wth 61 wickets.

SSC meanwhile having lost First Class status the last season fought their way back to regain top status and their campaign was spearheaded by Nipun Dhananjaya, who was named Best Batsman in Tier ‘B’

Tier ‘B’ 3-Day League 2025-26 – Best Batsman – Nipun Dhananjaya – SSC

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GCC Blue and Kingfisher reach U-15 final

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3 hours ago

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2026/04/2

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GCC Blue 2026 U15 and Kingfisher C A U15 advanced to the final of the Global Cricket Club Under-15 Tournament after winning their semi-final matches in contrasting fashion.

‎In the first semi-final, GCC Blue 2026 U15 recorded a thrilling 2-wicket win over Apex Cricket Academy – Blue 2026 U15.

‎Apex, batting first, made 149 for 9 in 28 overs, with Anuhas Wickramasinghe top-scoring with 72 off 71 balls. Himash Silva starred with the ball for GCC Blue, taking 3 for 13, while Navith de Silva claimed 3 for 37.

‎In reply, GCC Blue reached 150 for eight in 27.2 overs, thanks to Hiruka Edirisooriya’s 46 off 34 balls and an unbeaten 37 off 26 balls by Onath Rodrigo, who was named the Player of the Match.

‎In the second semi-final, Kingfisher C A U15 outplayed Muthuwal Cricket Academy U15 by 70 runs.

‎Kingfisher posted 194 for nine in 28 overs, with Janadeepa Okash scoring 31 and Akash Dissanayake adding 29. For Muthuwal, Radil Anthony picked up three wickets.

‎Muthuwal were then bowled out for 124 in 22.5 overs, despite Sivakumar Navneeth’s fighting 56. Akash Dissanayake produced the best performance of the match with 4 for 8, while Sasindu Dilshara supported well with 3 for 19. Dissanayake was named the Player of the Match.

‎The final of the GCC Under 15 invitational cricket tournament 2026 between GCC Blue and Kingfisher C A promises to be an exciting contest and will be held on 04th April 2026 at Thurstan Cricket Ground commencing at 01.00 pm.

‎Fingara CA to encounter ARS Academy in U-13 Invitational Tournament final

‎Fingara Cricket Academy and ARS Academy advanced to the final of the Global Cricket Club Under-13 Tournament after winning their respective semi-finals.

‎Fingara Cricket Academy defeated GCC Blue 2026 U13 by 31 runs in the first semi-final. Batting first, Fingara made 203 for 6 in 30 overs with Thisanga Thewsara top-scoring with 49, while Kenul Binuka made 40 and Nethma Nilaksha Perera added a quick 35. In reply, GCC Blue were limited to 172 for 7. Nethma Nilaksha Perera starred with the ball as well, taking 3 for 23, and was named the Player of the Match.

‎In the second semi-final, ARS Academy U13 beat NP Cricket Academy U-13 by 6 wickets. NP Cricket Academy were bowled out for 93 in 25 overs, with Lasindu Rathnayake scoring 27. ARS Academy chased down the target, finishing on 97 for 4 in 20.1 overs, thanks to Akash Thilakarathne’s 36. Manula Mihisara was the standout performer with 3 for 16 and won the Player of the Match award.

‎The final will be played on 04th April 2026 at Thurstan Cricket Ground, Bauddhaloka Mw.Colombo 07 at 8am

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