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Matt Henry, Will Young give New Zealand thumping win in series opener
New Zealand’s fast bowlers tore through Sri Lanka’s top order to set up a big win, before their own top three clinched it, Will Young hitting 90 not out off 86 balls in a nine-wicket victory.
On a grassy Basin Reserve pitch, on a cold day beset by biting southerlies, New Zealand had had Sri Lanka 23 for 4 by the end of the powerplay. There were resurgent innings from the likes of Avishka Fernando especially, but Sri Lanka never seemed headed to a healthy total. They were out for 178 in the 44th over. New Zealand ran that total down with 23.4 overs to spare.
It was Matt Henry who set the tone for the early exchanges with his first spell, and claimed the first wicket on his way to figures of 4 for 19 from ten overs. He caught Pathum Nissanka’s leading edge with a full away-seamer in the fifth over, the ball floating out to mid-off for a simple catch. In his first five overs, Henry seamed the ball substantially, and conceded only six runs.
At the other end, Jacob Duffy was delivering probing overs as well. He took the second wicket with a short delivery that surprised Kusal Mendis, and which he inside edged into his leg stump. Three overs later, Kamindu Mendis – batting at No. 4 now – was run out attempting a suicidal single. Dropping a ball towards cover he called his partner through for a run, only for Mitchell Santner to swoop on the ball, and fire in an underarm throw that hit the base of the only stump Santner had to aim at. In general, New Zealand’s fielding was exemplary, with Mark Chapman also outstanding in the point region. On the rare occasions, New Zealand’s quicks strayed in the early overs, an act of spectacular fielding would tend to ensure the pressure stayed on Sri Lanka.
The last wicket to fall in the powerplay was that of captain Charith Asalanka, who initially only seemed to be beaten by a sharply rising Nathan Smith delivery outside off stump, only for Smith to insist on the review, and for Snicko to show that the ball had brushed the shoulder of the bat. Asalanka, so often the batter who arrests Sri Lanka collapses, was out for a duck.
This brought Janith Liyanage to the crease to join Avishka, and the pair set about the repair work, finding boundaries square of the wicket after much of the seam movement of the early overs had disappeared. Avishka played the short balls well through the middle period, as New Zealand’s seamers switched occasionally to that mode of attack. In any case, the pair put on 87 together, Avishka scoring his ninth ODI fifty, before Liyanage miscued a Mitchell Santner ball to deep midwicket and was out for 36.
Sri Lanka had contributions from Wanindu Hasaranga, who hit 35, and Chamindu Wickramasinghe, who made 22. But New Zealand always had Sri Lanka by the collar – no passage of retaliation lasted very long.
Given the trouble New Zealand’s quicks had given Sri Lanka, the chase was exceptionally smooth. Rachin Ravindra was strong on the front foot early on, finding six boundaries in the arc between backward point and mid-off. Young, meanwhile, was excellent whenever Sri Lanka’s bowlers pitched short, playing a number of powerful pulls and hooks. New Zealand were 70 for no loss at the end of the powerplay, Sri Lanka’s seamers guilty of a little indiscipline. There were no serious wicket chances, aside from one missed run-out by Asitha Fernando, who had fielded the ball in his follow-through.
Ravindra would be dismissed attempting an ambitious leg-side flick off a full delivery down the leg side, but the remainder of the chase was straightforward. Young continued to find those leg-side boundaries and sped past his tenth ODI half-century. Mark Chapman was a steady presence at the other end. Their unbeaten stand of 87 took the hosts home.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 180 for 1 in 26.2 overs (Wiull Young 90*, Rachin Ravindra 45, Mark Chapman 29*; Chamindu Wickramasinghe 1-28) beat Sri Lanka 178 in 43.4 overs (Avishka Fernando 56,Janith Liyanage 36, Wanidu Hasaranga 35, Chamindu Wickremesinghe 22; Matt, Henry 4-19, Jacob Duffy 2-39, Nathan Smith 2-43) by nine wickets
[Cricinfo]
by Reemus Fernando
The Sri Lanka Automobile Association in Japan (SLAAJ) has awarded a brand-new Honda Vezel to gold medallist Rumesh Tharanga at a felicitation ceremony for the Sri Lankan team that competed at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan.
The gift was announced at the ceremony, held on the eve of the team’s departure from Nagoya.
”We decided to reward every Sri Lankan athlete who wins a gold medal with a brand-new vehicle. We invited all the Sri Lankan athletes taking part in the Games to the felicitation, and at the time of the event, only Tharanga had won gold,”
Nishantha Meegalla, Vice President of the Nagoya Prefecture of the Sri Lanka Business Council of Japan, told ‘The Island’.
Tharanga, the world’s top-ranked javelin thrower this season, won Sri Lanka’s first-ever javelin medal at the Asian Games on Monday, sealing the historic victory with a throw of 88.55 metres.
Approval has been granted at the cabinet meeting held on 01-03-2023 for the National Curriculum Framework and the methodology for implementing the aforementioned framework, which was initiated by the National Institute of Education in 2019 under the education reform process.
However, considering the modules relevant to Grades 1, 6, and 10 that have been prepared by the National Institute of Education for the implementation of the new education reforms by the time the new government comes into power in 2024, it was planned to implement the new National Curriculum Framework only for Grades 1 and 6 in 2026, ensuring appropriate adjustments to the new government’s policies.
Further, it has also been planned to introduce vocational subjects from grade 10 onwards.
Accordingly, the concept paper required for ‘Transformational Change in Sri Lanka’s General Education’, which has been prepared to inform and make relevant parties aware of the proposed adjustments, has also been submitted to the Parliamentary Subcommittee on Education Reforms on 22-10-2025.
Subsequently, as decided at the Cabinet Meeting held on 13-01-2026, steps have been taken to postpone the implementation of education reforms for grade 6, which had been planned under the first phase of the comprehensive reform agenda for general
education, up to the year 2027, and only to implement new curriculum reforms for grade 1 in the year 2026.
Subsequently, the Ministry of Education, Higher Education, and Vocational Education has followed these steps.
• preparing a new concept paper with policy recommendations after reviewing the concept paper prepared related to bringing about transformational change in Sri Lanka’s general education
by the National Education Commission.
• Having reviewed the revised concept paper by the National Steering Committee established as per the cabinet decision dated 23-03-2026 and subcommittees established under 5 pillars
relevant to the education reforms-namely Curriculum Reform, Human Resource Development, Education Administrative Reforms & Infrastructure Development, Evaluation & Assessment, and Public Awareness & Promotion-and obtaining further observations and recommendations.
• Based on those observations and recommendations, further revising the National Curriculum Framework prepared by the National Institute of Education in 2023 and obtaining approval
from the Academic Affairs Board of the National Institute of Education.
• Obtaining approval from the Council of the National Institute of Education for the National Curriculum Framework approved by its Academic Affairs Board.
• Obtaining concurrence from the National Steering Committee for New Education Reforms on 2026-08-13 for the National Curriculum Framework approved by the Council of the National Institute of Education.
• Printing and preparing activity books and teacher guides for all 3 terms of Grade 1 and Grade 2 for the year 2027, so as to continue carrying forward the primary education reforms
commenced in the year 2026.
• Preparing Grade 6 modules for Terms I, II, and III, as well as teacher guides for all 3 terms.
• Master trainers have been trained by the National Institute of Education for all primary and secondary subjects, and all plans related to teacher training at the provincial level have been
prepared.
• Formulating the policy guidelines on school-based evaluation and assessment—prepared for practical implementation while managing available resources within the school system by the
Evaluation and Assessment Sub-Committee and obtaining the approval of the National Steering Committee.
Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers has approved the resolution furnished by the Hon. Prime Minister in her capacity as the Minister of Education, Higher Education, and Vocational Education to further implement the education reform process for grade 1, which has been initiated in the year 2026,
and to further initiate the education reform process for grade 2 and grade 6 in the year 2027, based on the concept paper prepared by the National Education Commission, the National Curriculum Framework approved by the National Steering Committee for New Education Reforms, and the School-Based
Evaluation and Assessment Guideline.
Sri Lanka will face India in the semi-finals of Asian Games men’s tournament after their quarter-final clash against Nepal was abandoned without a ball being bowled in Nisshin, Japan. The game was called off prior to the toss, with rain having begun hours prior to the scheduled 9am local start and not looking like abating.
Sri Lanka’s progression was assured by virtue of their higher seeding in terms of the ICC T20I rankings – Sri Lanka, alongside India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are the four seeded teams in the tournament. On Monday, India had qualified over Afghanistan after another washout, again by virtue of their higher. Similarly, Pakistan’s qualification was assured following a rain abandonment in their quarter-final against Hong Kong.
In the 2022 Asian Games, Sri Lanka had been eliminated at the quarter fial stages by Afghanistan. Another washout in the semis against, India though, will see the latter qualify for the final.
A few hours later, the fourth quarter-final between Bangladesh and Malaysia was also washed out. Bangladesh will now face Pakistan in the first semi-final on October 1, followed by India vs Sri Lanka later on the same day
(Cricinfo)
Gold winner Tharanga gets brand-new Honda Vezel from SLAAJ
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