Sports

Relief to see Dhananjaya among the runs: Naveed Nawaz

Published

3 years ago

2022/11/2

Sri Lanka secured a much-needed victory against Afghanistan to keep their slender hopes of qualification for the semifinals alive. Naveed Nawaz, Sri Lanka’s assistant coach, said it was an important victory for the team who also tried to reach the target of 145 as soon as possible for a lift in their net run rate but were able to finish it only in the penultimate over.

“Yeah, the net run rate was important. On the other hand, the win was important as well,” said Nawaz when asked if Sri Lanka could have got to the target sooner. “So we were keeping an eye on the net run rate as well while trying to secure a win. That was the most important thing for us. At the rate things were going, we were chasing 144, which we needed to get in at least 18-plus overs, which would jack up our net run rate into a decent position.”

Sri Lanka, with two wins from four games, will play against England in their final group encounter. Nawaz said they will go out with a positive mindset, attempting to win the game and boost their net run rate while hoping for other results to go their way.

“There’s one more game to go, and I think in our minds we’ve got to go hard and we’ve got to win that game and see where the tournament ends up. I think we’ll have to depend on how Australia goes in their next game to see if we have got any outside chance of making it to the semis,” he said.

Dhananjaya de Silva was the star batter for Sri Lanka in this game, with his unbeaten 66 off 42 helping the team over the line with six wickets in hand. He was involved in useful partnerships with Kusal Mendis, Charith Asalanka and Bhanuka Rajapaksa as Sri Lanka came up with a much-improved effort with the bat compared to their previous game where they had slipped to 24 for 5 against New Zealand.

“It’s always the case that we’ve been talking to lose less wickets during the powerplay as well as the first ten overs, where if you look at the pattern that’s building in most teams, the number of runs that you get in the first ten overs has been far less than the subcontinent. And the number of runs you get at the bottom end has been quite a bit. So that’s always been our plan during this World Cup, and whenever we had a good opening stand or someone taking responsibility from the top to move on, we’ve done well,” said Nawaz.

“I think it’s a relief that Dhananjaya is coming into runs. He’s always shown potential — 30s, 40s, 20s all the time. But I think it’s good to see him finishing a game and coming through that game over 60 not out, which is a good sign for us,” he added.

Nawaz also heaped praise on Wanindu Hasaranga, who finished with 3 for 13, which included two wickets and only three runs in the 20th over. “He’s always been one of our main bowlers and one of the top bowlers in the world. So that’s why we back him to bowl in the last over of the game as well, and he handled it brilliantly, bowled really well. I think that was one of the reasons that we could keep the Afghans below 150.”

Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s hopes of progressing further came to an end with this loss. Head coach Jonathan Trott said it was a mixed-bag campaign for the team where there didn’t capitalise on chances. He provided examples of the matches against England and also this game, where Afghanistan weren’t able to finish well with the bat.

“I’d say there’s been some good parts and there’s been some really average parts. We haven’t got things right. We seem to be able to get ourselves into positions but then not utilise them and actually then kick on with the batting,” Trott said. “So twice now, against England and this game. I’m not saying against England we would have had a massive score, but we would have certainly been able to put a lot more pressure on England if we’d been a little bit smarter in the last couple overs, and the same here.

“I think we lost four overs and we only got 31 runs, so 24 balls. Only being four wickets down, that’s not good enough. Those sort of areas are what can sort of take the game away from the opposition, or if you don’t get it right, bring them back into it,” he said. “We were definitely a few runs short. When your last over goes to three runs, you certainly left a few out there. We could have done a lot better with the bat. We got into position to kick on and didn’t utilise the short boundary anywhere near enough.”

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Sri Lanka series vital World Cup tune-up for Pakistan – Agha

Published

1 hour ago

2026/01/7

Sahan Weerasooriya

Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha and his Sri Lankan counterpart Dasun Shanaka pose with the trophy ahead of the three match T20I series in Dambulla on Tuesday.

Pakistan captain Salman Ali Agha says the three-match T20I series against Sri Lanka will serve as a dress rehearsal ahead of the T20 World Cup, with the former champions set to play all their tournament games in the island.

The series gets underway in Dambulla on Wednesday, with the remaining two matches scheduled for Friday and Sunday at the same venue.

With diplomatic relations between Pakistan and India strained, Pakistan will play the World Cup under the hybrid model, featuring exclusively in Sri Lanka. Should they go the distance, both their semi-final and final will be staged in Colombo.

Although Dambulla is not a World Cup venue, Agha believes the series offers his side a golden opportunity to play in similar conditions and test their bench strength.

“We are playing all our World Cup games in Sri Lanka and this series will help us get familiar with the conditions,” Agha told reporters on Tuesday. “We do travel here often, but playing a competitive series just before the World Cup is ideal, especially as some of our players haven’t played much cricket here.”

Pakistan will be without several marquee names, with Babar Azam, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan and Haris Rauf currently plying their trade in Australia’s Big Bash League.

“They are mega stars and they’ve done well for us. We will miss them, no doubt,” Agha said. “But this is also an opportunity to try out new players and hopefully they will put their hands up.”

One boost for Pakistan is the return of all-rounder Shadab Khan, back in action after being sidelined since June last year with injury.

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, will be led by Dasun Shanaka, who has been handed the captaincy through to the World Cup. The skipper admitted there are areas to fix after a mixed run in recent months.

“Our top order has done well in the last few series, but we need to sort out the middle order,” Shanaka said. “There were a few lapses and we are keen to address them before the World Cup. One key area was our strike rate between overs six and 15. We’ve worked on it during training and now we need to execute it in the middle.”

Shanaka also explained the recall of all-rounder Dhananjaya de Silva, who returns to the T20 setup after a two-year absence.

“We needed someone who can steady the innings,” Shanaka said. “If he can hold things together, others can play their shots around him. He also gives us a bowling option and in our conditions spin is key.”

Pakistan Squad:

Salman Ali Agha (captain), Abdul Samad, Abrar Ahmad, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Khawaja Nafay, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Salman Mirza, Mohammad Wasim Jnr, Naseem Shah, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan and Usman Tariq.

Sri Lanka Squad:

Dasun Shanaka (captain), Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis, Kusal Perera, Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Janith Liyanage, Kamindu Mendis, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Dushan Hemantha, Traveen Mathew, Dushmantha Chameera, Matheesha Pathirana, Nuwan Thushara, Eshan Malinga.

Sports

SSC-Yeti Tennis Tourney from January 9

Published

1 hour ago

2026/01/7

Sahan Weerasooriya

From left: Malik Perera (CEO, Yeti), Nishelli Perera (Co-founder, Yeti), Dr. Dilshan Balasuriya (Co-founder, Yeti), Chammika De Silva (Secretary, SSC Tennis) and Asiri Iddamalgoda (Chairman, SSC Tennis)

The Yeti-SSC Open Tennis Championship, one of the most prestigious and long-standing national tennis tournaments, will be held from January 9 to 25 at the SSC Courts in Maitland Place.

The 2026 Yeti-SSC Open Championship will feature a comprehensive line-up of events including Boys’ and Girls’ Singles and Doubles (Under-12 to Under-18), Men’s and Women’s Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles as well as Veterans categories (Over 35, 45 and 55).

The SSC Open Championships are officially recognised as a Category 1 National Ranking Tournament sanctioned by the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) and traditionally mark the commencement of Sri Lanka’s annual competitive tennis calendar.

The 2026 edition is expected to draw more than 1,000 junior and senior participants, further reinforcing its position as one of the country’s most eagerly awaited tennis events.

The tournament is set to showcase thrilling performances from leading national players including the current Men’s national champion Apna Perera, Women’s national champion Dinara De Silva, Davis Cup players Ashen Silva and Thehan Wijemanne, as well as top-ranked juniors such as Ganuka Fernando (Boys’ Under-18) and Sandithi Usgodaarachchi(Girls’ Under-18), among many other prominent competitors.

Sports

Seba force a draw after Joes dominate

Published

1 hour ago

2026/01/7

Sahan Weerasooriya

Under 19 Cricket

An unbeaten century in the first innings and a half century in the second by Adesh Almeida and valuable contributions in the second innings from Koshendra Fernando and Chamath Wellalage helped St. Sebastians’ force a draw to their Under 19 encounter against St. Joseph’s at Moratuwa on Tuesday.

‎Nushan Perera and Vishwa Peiris were responsible for most of the damage as they took theJoes almost close to an innings victory.

‎Forced to follow on, the Sebs were heading for a possible defeat but number ten batsman Navinu Fernando kept his cool to bat through to the finish. He faced more than 20 balls to score four runs not out.

‎Match Results

‎Sebs force a draw at Moratuwa

‎Scores

‎St. Joseph’s 344 all out in 79.1 overs

(Yenula Danthanarayana 74, Aveesha Samash 52, Rishma Amarasinghe 90, Chethina Kavinda 70, Dilpa Ruwanaka 28; Koshendra Fernando 5/115, Shenash Hashein 3/51, Navinu Fernando 2/65)

‎St. Sebastians’ 37 for 3 overnight 192 all out in 59.1 overs (Adesh Almeida 105n.o., Koshendra Fernando 45; Nushan Perera 6/38, Disinu Samarasinghe 2/68,

‎Vishwa Peiris 2/58) and 151 for 9 in 54 overs (Chamath Wellalage 33, Adesh Almeida 50, Koshendra Fernando 22; Nushan Perera 3/59, Vishwa Peiris 6/50)

‎Petes earn first innings points against Royal at Bambalapitiya

‎Scores

‎Royal 347 all out in 80 overs

(Rehan Peiris 125, Thevindu Wewalwala 20, Manuth Dasanayake 71, Himaru Deshan 58; Thenura Dissanayake 2/74, Janith Panditharathne 6/103) and 71 for no loss in 22 overs

‎St. Peter’s 54 for 2 overnight 361 for 6 in 80 overs

(Asadisa de Silva 134, Shavidu Silva 53, Joshua Sebastian 93, Enosh Peterson 31n.o., Sadeesha Silva 33n.o.; Sehandu Sooriyaarachchi 3/50, Ramiru Perera 2/98)

‎

‎No decision at Asgiriya

‎Scores

‎Trinity 153 all out in 52.3 overs (Praveen Mithila 47, Santhosh Kritheekshan 34; Geeth Sandaruwan 3/33, Thenuja Rashmin 3/35, Venura Kaveethra 2/34)

‎Mahanama 5 for 1 overnight 101 for 3 in 37 overs

(Venura Kaveethra 42n.o., Sanul Weerarathne 32n.o., Kaushika Thilakarathne 19)

‎

‎Cambrians take first innings honours against Nalanda at Campbell Place

‎Scores

‎Nalanda 226 all out in 79 overs

(Nadul Jayalath 25, Santhul Wijerathna 46, Nemindu Akmeemana 27, Osanda Pamuditha 66, Dunitha Anusara 40; Nadul Aponso 6/53, Nethul Anuhas 4/67) and 101 for 7 in 33 overs (Shehan Ashein 5/20)

‎Prince of Wales 50 for no loss overnight 303 for 9 in 80 overs

(Palingu Perera 33, Suwas Fernando 63, Oshan de Silva 43, Gaveesha Fernando 59, Pasan Cooray 51; Osanda Pamuditha 2/32, Malsha Fernando 2/65) (RF)

‎