Sports
Pradeeptha, Inuka dazzle
Under 19 Division I Cricket
by Reemus Fernando
Centuries by Thamindu Pradeeptha and Diniru Abeywickramasinghe and a seven wicket haul by Inuka Karannagoda helped their respective schools do well against their opponents in the Under 19 Division I cricket encounters on Tuesday.
An unbeaten century by Thamindu Pradeeptha helped Richmond change the day one script at Mount Lavinia as they posted 249 runs against S. Thomas’ in their encounter. The teams bating first at Mount Lavinia had collapsed to low scores this season but the dogged 258 ball knock by Pradeeptha and a valuable half century by Malsha Tharupathi prevented Richmond from being bowled out for a low score. Pradeeptha’s knock contained 13 fours and a six (in 258 balls).
Abeywickramasinghe’s 116 runs helped St. Servatius’ score a first innings win over Moratu Vidyalaya at Uyanwatta. The visitors however managed to compensate for their dismal first innings performance as Deneth Sithumina top scored with 88 runs for them to post 207 for five wickets at stumps in the second innings.
At Katunayake, left-arm spinner Inuka Karannagoda took seven wickets (24.3-1-49-7) to lead Mahanama to a thrilling first innings win over St. Joseph’s.
Match Results
Inuka takes seven wickets for Mahanama to take first innings
points at Katunayake
Scores:
Mahanama
215 all out in 91.1 overs (Sachira Weliwatta 55, Viranga Yeshan 44, Rashmika Perera 43; Yenula Dewthusa 6/57, Muditha Dissanayaka 2/28) and 136 for 2 in 27 overs (Anjala Bandara 53n.o., Duvindu Ranathunga 38n.o., Sachira Weliwatta 28)
St. Joseph’s
12 for no loss overnight 175 all out in 73.3 overs (Muditha Dissanayake 59, Hirun Kapurubandara 41n.o., Sadeesh Jayawardana 20, Abishek Jayaweera 20; Inuka Karannagoda 7/49, Koojana Perera 2/24)
St. Servatius’ dominate
at Uyanwatta
Scores:
Moratu MV
111 all out in 45.1 overs (Isuru Nidarshana 20, Sukitha Devthilina 32; Viran Chamuditha 3/10, Chiran Neththaru 5/23) and 207 for 5 in 84 overs (Hashen Isuru 32, Thushan Ferdinando 25, Deneth Sithumina 88)
St. Servatius’
180 for 3 overnight 294 for 7 decl. in 76 overs (Denuwan Pramod 63, Chiran Neththaru 60n.o., Diniru Abeywickramasinghe 116; Kaviska Oshan 2/39, Thushan Ferdinando 2/30)
Thurstan on first innings
at Campbell Place
Scores:
Nalanda
218 all out in 61.2 overs (Yasiru Samarakoon 28, Senesh Wijesinghe 65, Sajitha Vithanage 48, Thisara Dewdunu 26; Thenuka Dewapriya 3/34, Vihas Thewmika 3/32) and 189 for 4 in 54 overs (Rusiru Vilochana 41, Sadew Samarasinghe 45, Kushmitha Silva 45, Eranga Jayakody 54)
Thurstan
146 for 2 overnight 272 all out in 83.3 overs (Ramika Sonal 22, Shanikya Deshapriya 75, Thenuka Dewapriya 71, Navindu Fernando 29, Vihas Thewmika 30; Azeem Mohomad 27; Sajitha Vithanage 5/93, Minod Caldera 4/56)
DSS post 227, St. Sebastian’s 24 for no loss at DSS ground
Scores:
DSS
227 all out in 73.1 overs (Senura Silva 58, Malitha Perera 32, Sahan Yapa 29, Chenul Pinsara 33; Sandeesh Fernando 4/59, Manuja Chanthuka 2/39, Ryan Dissanayaka 2/17)
St. Sebastian’s
24 for no loss in 3 overs (Ryan Dissanayaka 22n.o.)
Thamindu anchors Richmond
at Mount Lavinia
Scores:
Richmond
249 all out in 84.1 overs (Thamindu Pradeeptha 114 n.o., Malsha Tharupathi 59; Nathan Caldera 2/47, Kavindu Dias 6/76)
S. Thomas’
15 for 1 in 5 overs
St. Joseph Vaz’s 220, De Mazenod 94/4 at Kandana
Scores:
St. Joseph Vaz’s
220 all out in 66.3 overs (Rishith Menusha 41, Dasun Perera 64, Tharindu Eshan 50; Kavindu Kaushalya 3/38, Sithum Fernando 2/65, Thareen Sanketh 2/64)
De Mazenod
94 for 4 in 31 overs (Hasith Silva 47, Maleesha Mihishan 25n.o.)
Dimath, Gayana restrict Gurukula to 214 runs at Kurunegala
Scores:
Gurukula
214 all out in 52.3 overs (Thathsara Eshan 80, Denura Dimansith 31, Janith Mihiranga 23, Tharusha Dilsara 41; Gayana Weerasinghe 3/52, Dimath Abeysinghe 4/64)
Maliyadeva
144 for 5 in 45 overs (Jayamin Muthukumarana 33, Pasindu Menaka 24, Chandupa Abeysinghe 25n.o., Gayana Weerasinghe 34; Mohomad Mursad 3/34)
St. Anne’s amass 300 for nine
wickets at Kurunegala
Scores:
St. Anne’s
300 for 9 decl. in 93 overs (Kevin Shewantha 31, Mahima Kotuwila 34, Manaan Muzammil 58, Yomesh Subasinghe 45, Kalindu Wijesinghe 36; Bhanuka Insamal 2/47, Navija de Seram 2/68, Senura Perera 3/55)
St. Thomas’
no runs for 1 wicket in 0.5 overs
Mahinda take upper hand against
St. Aloysius’ at Galle
Scores:
St. Aloysius’
114 all out in 36.2 overs (Induwara Udena 20, Kalana Pathum 26n.o.; Shehan Hasaranga 4/35, Dinura Kalupahana 3/23, Dhanuja Induwara 3/17)
Mahinda
162 for 3 in 51 overs (Dinura Kalupahana 41, Savidya Ranmina 38n.o., Tharusha Dilshan 48n.o.; Vidura Lakshan 2/27)
St. Peter’s 252, Dharmaraja 94/5
at Bambalapitiya
Scores:
St. Peter’s
252 all out in 60.2 overs (Vishen Halambage 70, Rusanda Gamage 52, Nimuthu Gunawardena 50, Lakindu Samarajeewa 21, Sean Roberts 16n.o.; Thisaru Wanninayake 3/77, Kalana Herath 2/14, Dulara Bandulasena 2/37, Nisala Abeyratne 2/44)
Dharmaraja
94 for 5 in 39 overs (Pulindu Perera 27, Isuru Pannala 34n.o.; Shennon Rodrigo 4/07)
It is understood the ICC has told the BCB to inform the Bangladesh government that if Bangladesh continues to refuse to travel to India to play its matches in the 2026 T20 World Cup, then they will be replaced by another team at the tournament. That decision was followed by a vote, where the majority of the ICC Board was in favour of having a replacement.
BCB have been given one more day to come back to the ICC on its stance on playing in India.
If that is the case, then Scotland is likely to replace Bangladesh in Group C at the World Cup. Scotland had failed to qualify for the 2026 T20 World Cup, having finished behind Netherlands, Italy and Jersey at the European Qualifier.
[Cricinfo]
Harry Brook admits he was fortunate to keep his job as white-ball captain following a latte night alteraction with a nightclub bouncer in New Zealand, and says he is in the process of regaining the trust of his team.
Brook, now in Sri Lanka for England’s ODI series which gets underway on Thursday, was speaking for the first time since news broke that he had been disciplined for the incident in Wellington in October, for which he was fined £30,000 and put on a final warning for his off-field conduct.
“Obviously I made a terrible mistake,” Brook said. “Not only as a player, but as a captain. It’s very unprofessional and I should be leading from the front. “I’ve learnt from my mistakes, I’ve reflected a lot on what’s happened and I know it wasn’t the right thing to do. I want to say sorry to my team-mates, to all the fans that travel far and wide to watch, spend a lot of money on coming out to watch us play cricket and supporting us, and to the ECB for putting them in a tricky situation, and it’ll never happen again. I’m extremely sorry.”
Brook, along with a number of other England players, had been out drinking the night before the third ODI against New Zealand, with the match the final competitive fixture for England before the Ashes began three weeks later.
Brook, who says he then went on his own to a nightclub, says he was “clocked” by a bouncer when attempting to get in.
“We went out for a couple of drinks beforehand and then I took it upon myself to go out for a few more and I was on my own there,” Brook said. “I was trying to get into a club and the bouncer just clocked me, unfortunately. Like I said, I shouldn’t have been in that situation from the start. I wasn’t absolutely leathered, I’d had one too many drinks.”
Brook reported his actions to the management mid-game the next day, and came close to being sacked from his position as captain as a result.
“It was definitely going through my mind,” Brook said of the potential that he would lose his job, before adding that he had not at any stage considered resigning. “Never came into my mind. I left that decision to the hierarchy and, look, if they’d have sacked me from being captain, then I’d have been perfectly fine with it, as long as I was still playing cricket for England.
“Probably, yeah,” he added, when asked if he felt lucky to keep his job. “I think I’ve got a little bit of work to do to try and regain the trust of the players. I said sorry to them yesterday. I felt like I needed to say sorry for my actions. It’s not acceptable as a player, but as a captain it’s really not acceptable to do what I did in New Zealand. I’ll be the first person to say that. I hold my hands up.”
In the aftermath of the incident, which was kept private by England until after the Ashes had concluded, Brook sought help from Test captain Ben Stokes, who himself was involved in a high-profile nightclub fight in 2018.
“He obviously wasn’t best pleased at what I’d done,” Brook said. “But he tried to help me through it and he knows exactly what it feels like to be in this situation. We had a few conversations, but we quickly moved on.”
The news broke amid allegations of a drinking culture in English cricket, after players were regularly seen drinking alcohol during England’s tour of Australia.
“No, there’s no drinking culture at all,” Brook said. “Like I said, everybody has the ability to say no. If you want a drink, if you don’t want a drink, you’re allowed to make that decision yourself.
“It wasn’t just drinking [in Australia]. We weren’t just going out and getting leathered every day. We were having a few drinks here and there. We were playing plenty of golf, going to nice cafes, having coffees but we had a few drinks here and there. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. It’s just what human beings do.”
Despite this, England have introduced a curfew for their tour of Sri Lanka, with playing staff not allowed out past midnight.
“That’s been made as a group decision,” Brook said. “We think that it’s the best thing going forward, for the time being, to be able to put us in situations where we can win games of cricket and perform to the best of our ability.”
England play three ODIs against Sri Lanka, starting on Thursday in Colombo, before playing three T20Is ahead of next month’s World Cup. England have struggled of late in the 50-over format, losing 11 of their past 15 matches. That poor run of form will add extra pressure to the position of head coach Brendon McCullum, whom Brook threw his support behind, calling him “the best head coach I’ve had by a million miles”.
England have made a number of changes to their team since their last outing against New Zealand three months ago, with the return of Zak Crawley to the top of the order the most noticeable change. Crawley replaces Jamie Smith as opener, and will play his first List A game in over two years, having last played for England in December 2023. Elsewhere, Liam Dawson has been selected as the second spinner to accompany Adil Rashid in the middle-overs.
England : Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook (capt), Jos Buttler (wk), Will Jacks, Sam Curran, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid
[Cricinfo]
Charith Asalanka (Captain), Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Pavan Rathnayake, Dhananjaya de Silva, Janith Liyanage, Kamindu Mendis, Dunith Wellalage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jeffrey Vandersay, Maheesh Theekshana, Milan Rathnayake, Asitha Fernando, Pramod Madushan, Eshan Malinga.
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