Sports
Nushal hammers 174, Anjala makes Mahanama debut
Under 19 Cricket
by Reemus Fernando
Nushal Dharmarathna hammered 174 runs in 108 balls inclusive of 14 fours and 11 sixes – the highest individual score of the tournament so far- to set the stage for Ananda to romp to 125 runs win over Dharmasoka as the team joined Maris Stella, St. Peter’s, Dharmapala, Thurstan, Mahanama, St. Anne’s and Maliyadeva to commence the Under 19 Division I tournament on a winning note yesterday.
Dharmarathna, who also had success in their recent traditional matches joined Nethma Karunarathne to put on 169 runs for the second wicket and provided a strong base for the team to post 377 runs. Karunarathne remained unbeaten on 100 (in 114 balls, 9x4s)
Anjala makes Mahanama debut
Anjala Badara, who represented Sri Lanka at the ICC Under 19 World Cup made his Mahanama College debut a memorable one yesterday as he scored an unbeaten half century to beat Trinity at Asgiriya. The former St. Anthony’s College, Katugastota player faced 93 balls and anchored the middle order for Mahanama to register a five wicket win with many overs to spare.
Wanuja Kumara guides
St. Peter’s
Wanuja Kumara, another Sri Lanka Under 19 cap to shine yesterday, scored an unbeaten half century to lead St. Peter’s to five wickets win over Mahinda. Kumara and Shannon Rodrigo took two wickets each to contain Mahinda to 173 runs. They bowled economical spells and their 20 overs cost them just 49 runs.
Dharmapala turn tables on Dharmaraja
Dharmapala recorded one of their best performances away in recent times when they beat Dharmaraja despite an impressive bowling performance by Sadeepa Rathnayaka at Lake View. Hiru Pawan scored an unbeaten 38 for the visitors to pull off the two wicket win.
Match Results
Tier ‘B’ Tournament
Ananda beat Dharmasoka
at Ambalangoda
Scores:
Ananda
377 for 4 in 50 overs (Nushal Dharmarathna 174, Nethma Karunarathne 100n.o., Hansaja Jayasinghe 20, Mineth Premarathne 20, Shakthi Udara 21n.o.; Hasitha Rajapaksha 2/54)
Dharmasoka
252 all out in 38.5 overs ; Pulindu Kiriella 3/48, Shakthi Udara 3/43, Hansaja Jayasinghe 2/31)
Maris Stella amass 305 runs
at Wattala
Scores:
Maris Stella
305 for 5 in 50 overs (Shane Adithya 37, Kaveen Fernando 47, Hansaja Hiruna 69, Sachiru Hansala 28, Kawitha Dinalya 65n.o., Eveen Kalhara 36n.o.; Kavindu Gamage 2/44)
St. Anthony’s
155 all out in 44 overs (Therika Akash 42, Vihaga Rashmitha 26; Shane Adithya 3/14, Mahindu Malith 3/25, Ramith Bandara 2/11)
Wanuja shines for St. Peter’s at Bambalapitiya
Scores:
Mahinda
173 all out in 49.5 overs (Dinura Kalupahana 44, Dhanuja Induwara 33, Hiruna Mandila 21, Tharusha Dilshan 29; Shannon Rodrigo 2/25, Wanuja Kumara 2/24)
St. Peter’s
175 for 5 in 46.5 overs (Rusanda Gamage 27, Shenal Boteju 29, Lahiru Dawatage 23, Wanuja Kumara 54n.o.; Kaveen Rukshan 2/23)
Dharmapala turn tables on Dharmaraja at Lake View
Scores:
Dharmaraja
174 for 8 in 50 overs (Sachintha Dissanayaka 65, Isuru Pannala 50; Kavindu Primal 3/45, Yasith Wickramasinghe 2/26, Thisara Sishara 2/20)
Dharmapala
175 for 8 in 44.3 overs (Uditha Sadaruwan 23, Yasith Wickramasinghe 34, Praveen Kumarapperuma 39, Hiru Pawan 38n.o.; Sadeepa Rathnayaka 6/37)
Thurstan beat St. Sylvester’s at Thurstan College Ground
Scores:
Thurstan
234 all out in 48 overs (Tharindu Harshana 60, Bawantha Jayasinghe 97, Upul Hettiarachchi 21; Kavishka Imesh 3/19)
St. Sylvester’s
135 all out in 39.2 overs (Malith Lakshan 21, Maleesha Silva 42; Nipun Premarathne 2/31, Vihas Thewmika 4/17, Azeem Mohamed 2/16)
Tier ‘A’ Tournament
Anjala shines for Mahanama
at Asgiriya
Scores:
Trinity
179 all out in 48 overs (Kusal Wijethunga 30, Viduka Dhammage 21, Pawan Pathiraja 40, Rahal Amarasinghe 25, Supun Waduge 30n.o.; Dasith Gunathilake 2/34, Anuka Wijewardana 2/09, Inuka Karannagoda 2/18)
Mahanama
182 for 5 in 40.2 overs (Kavindu Amameth 51, Anjala Bandara 71n.o.; Manula Kularathne 3/22, Theeraka Ranathunga 2/36)
St. Anne’s outshine DSS
at DSS Ground
Scores:
DS Senanayake
153 all out in 36.5 overs (Senura Silva 30, Gaviru Senhas 44; Risitha Perera 2/22, Shevon Nimantha 2/42, Kalindu Wijesinghe 5/38)
St. Anne’s
156 for 4 in 38.2 overs (Risitha Perera 48, Buddhima Sahan 27, Pivithu Fernando 40, Adithya Nirwan 21n.o.; Rahul Chandrasekara 2/41)
Maliyadeva beat De Mazenod
at Kurunegala
Scores:
De Mazenod
118 all out in 33.1 overs (Salindu Pathirana 30; Jayamin Muthukumarana 2/15, Sakindu Wijerathne 3/27, Charuka Herath 3/30)
Maliyadeva
120 for 7 in 32.5 overs (Amesh Thennakoon 20, Matheesha Weerasinghe 29, Charuka Herath 22n.o.; Chanuka Silva 2/22, Senash Fernando 2/21)
Egypt forward Mohamed Salah has signed a new two-year contract with Liverpool.
The 32-year-old’s previous deal was scheduled to run out in the summer and there had been doubts he would stay with the Reds following comments from him during the season and speculation linking him with a move to Saudi Arabia.
However, he is staying and will have the chance to add to his 243 goals and 109 assists for the club in 393 appearances.
“Of course I’m very excited – we have a great team now,” said Salah.
“Before also we had a great team. But I signed because I think we have a chance to win other trophies and enjoy my football.
“I have played eight years here, hopefully it’s going to be 10. I’m enjoying my life here, enjoying my football. I have had the best years of my career here.”
Salah has scored 32 goals in all competitions this season, including 27 in the Premier League as the Reds chase a 20th top-flight title. Liverpool are 11 points clear of second-placed Arsenal with seven games remaining.
Salah, who joined Liverpool from Roma in 2017, has won the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup and Fifa Club World Cup with the Reds.
He was one of three key Liverpool players who will be out of contract this summer, along with right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold and centre-back Virgil van Dijk.
Netherlands defender Van Dijk has said there has been progress on talks over a new deal but Alexander-Arnold has been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid.
[BBC]
MS Dhoni will lead Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for the remainder of IPL 2025 after Rutraj Gaikwad was ruled out of the rest of the season with an elbow injury.
CSK head coach Stephen Fleming confirmed the development on the eve of the home game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Friday. It is a significant blow to CSK, who have made a bad start to their campaign by losing four of their first five matches. They are currently ninth in the points table, above only Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
Gaikwad suffered the injury during CSK’s match against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Guwahati on March 30. He was struck on his unprotected elbow after stepping out to fast bowler Tushar Deshpande and missing the ball in the second over of CSK’s unsuccessful chase, but continued batting and scored 63 in that game. He played two more games after that and made 5 against Delhi Capitals (DC) in Chennai on April 5 and 1 against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Mullanpur on April 8. After five games, he was CSK’s second-highest run-scorer with 122 runs at a strike rate of 150.61; he was CSK’s highest run-scorer in IPL 2024.
“He [Gaikwad] got hit in Guwahati. He’s been operating with an amount of pain,” Fleming said in Chennai. “We got an X-ray, which was inconclusive, and we had an MRI, which revealed a fracture in his elbow, in the radial neck.
“So we’re disappointed, and feel for him. We appreciate the efforts that he’s gone to in terms of trying to play, but unfortunately, he’d be out of the tournament from now. We have an uncapped player, MS Dhoni, who will take over as captain for the remainder of the IPL.”
Dhoni, 43, had led CSK from 2008 until 2024, when he handed the captaincy to Gaikwad. He had also handed the captaincy to Ravindra Jadeja in 2022, but took back the leadership some way into the season after the team went through a bad run of results. Under Dhoni’s captaincy, CSK have won five IPL titles in 2010, 2011, 2018, 2021 and 2023 and two Champions League trophies as well.
“He [Dhoni] had no hesitation to step up and help guide us out of this if we can,” Fleming said. “So that was never a doubt. We’ll look at replacements. We’ve got some good players in the squad that have been with us a while, so we’ll look from within first. But yeah, there is an opportunity to see how we can enhance the squad probably moving forward into subsequent years.”
After their home game against KKR on today, CSK play two away games against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on April 14 and Mumbai Indians (MI) on April 20.
[Cricinfo]
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