Sports
Royal recover as Manchanayake cracks unbeaten double century
Under 19 Cricket
by Reemus Fernando
Royal College skipper Dasis Manchanayake scored an unbeaten double century against Gurukula, Inuka Karannagoda and Isuru Ayesh excelled for Mahanama and Ananda respectively in the Under 19 Division I cricket encounters concluded on Tuesday.
Manchanayake scored his unbeaten double century in 200 balls (25x4s, 2x6s) and put on 151 runs for the fifth wicket with Uvindu Weerasekara as Royal recovered from being four wickets down for six runs at one stage to post 378 for nine wickets declared against Gurukula at Reid Avenue.
At BOI, a five-wicket haul by Inuka Karannagoda helped Mahanama register an innings and 34 runs victory over St. Thomas’, Matara.
Ananda pulled off four wickets victory over Zahira at Ananda Mawatha as they knocked off a win need of 64 runs in just over 12 overs after Isuru Ayesh picked up six wickets to rattle Zahira for 50 runs in the second essay.
St. Joseph’s came almost close to registering an outright victory over St. Sebastian’s as Hirun Matheesha hammered 60 runs in 16 balls for (3x4s, 8x6s) for them to reach 62 runs for the loss of one wicket in three overs. They were 20 runs short of the target.
Match Scores:
Mahanama record big victory at BOI ground
Scores:
St. Thomas’
96 all out in 44.4 overs (Navija de Seram 23; Duvindu Ranathunga 5/29, Venuk Hettiarachchi 3/30, Rashmika Perera 2/20) and 126 all out in 37.1 overs (Pesandu Sanjan 62, Navija de Seram 24; Duvindu Ranathunga 2/21, Koojana Perera 2/04, Inuka Karannagoda 5/41)
Mahanama
256 for 6 decl. in 48 overs (Anjala Bandara 100n.o., Banula Algawatte 42, Sachira Weliwatta 39, Inuka Karannagoda 39; Jimuth Iddamalgoda 2/40, Banuka Insamal 2/48.
Ananda beat Zahira at Ananda Mawatha
Scores:
Zahira
210 all out in 78.1 overs (Zayan Ismath 43, Venkat Rajendran 24, Raeedh Careem 42, Mohamed Ijaz 23; Kithma Sithmal 3/29, Ashinsa Nainayake 3/65) and 50 all out in 20.3 overs (Lakshan de Silva 29; Isuru Ayesh 6/16)
Ananda
50 for 3 overnight 197 all out in 52.3 overs (Ashinsa Nainayake 22, Kithma Sithmal 90; Zayan Ismath 3/52, Venkat Rajendran 4/43) and 68 for 6 in 12.1 overs
Hirun hammers 60 runs in 16 balls at Darley Road
Scores:
St. Sebastian’s
68 all out in 32.5 overs (Sanesh Fernando 30, Sadeesh Fernando 18; Gagan Chamod 2/04, Maanasa Madubashana 5/18) and 234 all out in 99 overs (Sanesh Fernando 43, Ryan Dissanayake 32, Vimath Dinsara 99, Navod Fernando 20; Yenula Dewtusa 4/69, Lahiru Amarasekara 4/61)
St. Joseph’s
220 for 9 overnight decl. in 67 overs (Sadeesh Jayawardana 39, Hiran Jayasundara 58, Abishek Jayaweera 24, Hirun Matheesha 31; Manuja Chanthuka 7/65) and 62 for 1 in 3 overs (Hirun Matheesha 60)
Maris Stella-Isipatana ends in draw at BRC ground
Scores:
Maris Stella
329 all out in 97 overs (Shean Adithya 64, Anshen de Silva 92, Hasindu Perera 54, Ramith Bandara 61, Randeera de Silva 28; Sithuka Gunawardene 2/70, Yeshith Kalupahana 3/48, S. Perera 4/110)
Isipatana
17 for no loss overnight 198 all out in 73.4 overs (Naveen Kanishka 36, Tharusha Nethsara 23, Themiya Gunarathne 44, Kevin Samuel 53; Nethum Basnayaka 4/44, Shean Adithya 4/43) and 123 for 6 in 37 overs (Tharusha Nethsara 33, Yeshith Kalupahana 20, Yuneth Senevirathne 35, Themiya Gunarathne 21; Ramith Bandara 2/44, Shean Adithya 3/14)
St. Sylvester’s 326, Lumbini 327/9 at Kalutara
Scores:
St. Sylvester’s
326 all out in 92.5 overs (Malith Lakshan 41, Khanka Wickramasinghe 30, Sahan Dissanayake 20, Kavishka Imesh 91, Dion Fernando 48; Sasanka Nethmina 2/83, Shahan Kaushalya 3/45, Yasiru Yugath 2/58) and 181 for 1 in 29 overs (Malith Lakshan 82n.o., Khanka Wickramasinghe 55, Charuka Ayeshan 38n.o.)
Lumbini
55 for no loss overnight 327 for 9 decl. in 75.4 overs (Nabeel Rajudeen 74, Dhanitha Sandeth 30, Shahan Kaushalya 132, Pasindu Mahisha 27; Nimesha Silva 2/65, Akila Wickramasinghe 5/64)
Richmond in first innings win at Katugastota
Scores:
Richmond
204 all out in 50.5 overs (Chehan Subasinghe 34, Kavindu Nirmana 27, Malsha Tharupathi 25, Thamindu Pradeeptha 34; Lahiru Abeysinghe 2/20, Thisara Ekanayake 3/59, Kaveesha Piyumal 3/35) and 197 for 8 in 83.3 overs (Tharinda Nirmal 36, Sharon Abhishek 26, Janeth Kaushal 26, Thamindu Pradeeptha 33, Imesh de Silva 41; Lahiru Abeysinghe 2/49, Thisara Ekanayake 3/20, Kaveesha Piyumal 3/44)
St. Anthony’s
122 for 5 overnight 151 all out in 57 overs (Kavindu Shehan 30, Thisara Ekanayake 69; Thamindu Pradeeptha 3/28, Tharinda Nirmal 4/35, Malsha Tharupathi 2/37)
Dasis scores unbeaten double century at Reid Avenue
Scores:
Royal
378 for 9 decl. in 73 overs (Dasis Manchanayake 200n.o., Uvindu Weerasekara 92, Geeshan Perera 30; Janith Shehan 4/32, Seneshka Nethsara 2/30)
Gurukula
89 for 2 in 25 overs (Poorna Kalhara 27, Mohomad Mursad 48n.o.)
St. Benedict’s post 300 runs at Kotahena
Scores:
St. Benedict’s
300 all out in 65.3 overs (Viduneth Wilson 58, Sheron Kannangara 53, Sharujan Shanmuganathan 53, Shenel Samarathunga 49, Aarshan Joseph 22; Geethika de Silva 4/52, Manaan Muzammil 3/63, Kalindu Wijesinghe 2/32)
St. Anne’s
62 for 4 in 20 overs (Buddima Sahan 24; Kojitha Himsara 2/05)
Nalanda all out for 148 runs at Campbell Place
Scores:
Nalanda
148 all out in 69.3 overs (Rusiru Vilochana 20, Yasiru Samarakoon 25, Kushmitha Silva 28; Shehan Hasaranga 3/40, Savidya Ranmina 3/27)
Mahinda
70 for 1 in 30 overs (Pramesh Madhubhashana 32n.o.)
A sensational all-round display from Krunal Pandya led Royal Challengers Bengaluru to the top of the IPL 2025 table as they outbowled and outbatted Delhi Capitals in a tense clash on a tricky, two-paced surface at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
A strong display with the ball set things up, as RCB sent DC in and restricted them to 162 for 8, with Bhuveneshwar Kumar and Josh Hazelwood picking up five wickets between them, and Suvash Sharma and Krunal strangling with spin through the middle overs. The chase was never going to be straightforward, though, given the conditions and DC’s attack, and RCB duly slipped to 26 for 3 after four overs.
Krunal, though, hauled RCB out of the mire and put them in front, over the course of a 119-run fourth-wicket stand with Virat Kohli, who made his sixth half-century of the season, and his fourth in a chase.
The recovery came in two phases. By the 10-over mark, Kohli and Krunal had put on 40 in 36 balls, and neither batter was looking fluent. But Krunal found his hitting range, and took off. Having been on 17 off 21 balls at one stage, he hit 56 off his last 26 balls. Kohli fell for 51 off 47 with RCB needing 18 off 13. There was no late twist, though, as Tim David finished with a flurry of boundaries, sealing victory with nine balls remaining.
Abhishek Porel struck the ball sweetly at the start of DC’s innings to score 28 off 11 balls, and Tristan Stubbs made an innovative 34 off 18 at the finish, but DC’s other batters struggled, scoring just 96 off 92 balls between them.
Faf du Plesis, returning from a groin injury and playing his first game since April 10, and KL Rahul struggled for fluency in particular, scoring 22 off 26 and 41 off 39 respectively.
The surface was partly responsible for this, with the ball gripping and occasionally staying low too, and RCB’s bowling played its part too, with Suyash and Krunal especially suffocating through the middle overs, bowling at high pace into the pitch and keeping width to a minimum.
And DC suffered two crucial jolts.
First, just when Axzr Patel was beginning to look dangerous, having slogged Krunal for a six in the previous over, Hazlewood came back and bowled DC’s captain in the 14th. This took some pressure off Suyash and Krunal – who may not have relished bowling to the left-handed Axar – and they finished their quotas by conceding a combined 13 runs across the 15th and 16th overs, against Rahul and a new-to-the-crease Stubbs.
Then, when Bhuvneshwar dismissed Rahul in the 17th, DC sent in Ashutosh Sharma as their Impact Player. They had named a bowler-heavy XI despite batting first, with the hope that they could bring in the extra bowler if their top order enjoyed a good day. As it happened, they were forced to bring in a batter, and he was out third ball, bowled by a legcutter from Bhuvneshwar.
Stubbs and Vinrai Nigam then provided the spark that DC had sorely lacked up to then, using the V behind the wicket smartly to collect a combined 36 runs across the 18th and 19th overs. Bhuvneshwar, though, cut short the fireworks with a superb 20th over, dismissing Stubbs and only conceding six runs (one of them off a leg-bye) despite bowling with an extra fielder inside the 30-yard circle with RCB having run into an over-rate penalty.
Replacing Phil Salt, who was out with fever, Jacob Bethell played a short and exciting innings on IPL debut. He flicked Mitchell Starc for a six and a four off successive balls in the second over, before being done in by the slowness of the pitch, miscuing a pull off Axar to deep midwicket in the third over.
Despite the presence of the left-handed Bethell, Axar had bowled the first and the third overs. He ended up dismissing not one but two left-handers, with Devdutt Padikkal, RCB’s Impact Player, chopping on while attempting a cut two balls later.
Karun Nair had taken an excellent catch in the deep to send Bethell back, and he was soon in play once again when Kohli clipped one in his direction at midwicket and seemed to take off for a single before coming to an abrupt stop. Rajpat Patidar hared out of his crease at the other end, and it was too late by the time he turned back and dived, with Nair’s direct hit finding him well short.
The first part of RCB’s recovery wasn’t pretty. The pitch was still a tricky one for run-scoring, and one moment summed it up perfectly. A short ball from Nigam seemed ripe for pulling, but it lost so much pace off the pitch that it was on its way down by the time Kohli met it with his inside edge.
For all their lack of fluency, though, Kohli and Krunal were ensuring RCB had wickets at the back end, and at the halfway mark they needed 99 off 60 balls.
It was Krunal who switched gears, and he did it dramatically, whipping Dushmantha Chameera for a leg-side six in the 11th over and clearing the boundary twice off Mukesh Kumar in the 13th: the last of these hits, a length ball launched over long-off with a full extension of the arms, showed just how much Krunal had got to grips with the conditions.
And in the next over he showed he could do it against spin too, going over extra-cover off Kuldeep Yadav when he floated one into his arc.
DC’s last chance to get back in the game came in the 16th over, when Starc forced Krunal to miscue a pull with a sharp short ball angled across the left-hander from left-arm around. Running in from deep midwicket, Porel put down a sitter. Before this ball, RCB needed 40 off 25 balls.
By the time Chameera broke the partnership with a slower legcutter to Kohli in the 18th, DC were almost out of it. David then hurried RCB over the line, going 6, 4 (plus no-ball), 4, 4 as Mukesh’s attempted yorkers in the 19th over ended up as a succession of full-tosses and half-volleys.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru 165 for 4 in 18.3 overs (Krunal Pandya 73*, Virat Kohli 51, Jacob Bethel 12, Tim David 19*; Axar Patel 2-19, Dushmantha Chameera 1-24) beat Delhi Capitals 162 for 8 in 20 overs (Abhishek Porel 28, Faf du Plesis 22, KL Rahul 41, Axar Patel 15, Tristan Stubbs 34, Vipraj Nigam 12; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 3-33, Yash Dayal 1-42, Josh Hazlewood 2-36, Krunal Pandya 1-28) by six wickets
[Cricinfo]
St. Bridget’s Convent player Dinara de Silva won the ITF Junior Circuit J30 week 1 singles title with 6-1, 6-4 victory in the final at the SSC courts in Colombo on Saturday.
She beat Yoshino Kameda of Japan in straight sets to clinch the title. In the semi-final, she beat Savitha Bhubaneswar of India 6-2, 6-4.
The other players she beat on her way to the final were Aleena Farid (India- 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 quarter-final), Souna Akaba (Japan- 7-5, 6-0 2nd round) and Dana Kim (Korea – 6-2, 6-3 1st round).
The week 2 tournament will be held at the same venue from April 28 to May 3.
Mumbai Indians (MI) sealed their fifth consecutive win in comfortable fashion this season to climb to 12 points in ten games. It was a near-perfect day for the hosts in front of 19,000 kids as they defeated Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) for the first time in a league-stage fixture.
Half-centuries from Ryan Rickelton and Suryakumar Yadav – who also became the third-fastest to 4000 IPL runs – helped them set 215 before Jasprit Bumrah’s four-for and Trent Boult’s three-for sealed a 54-run win.
Mayanak Yadav was back in LSG colours for the first time this season. His pace had dropped but his slower ones were effective and took 2 for 40 in his four overs. Mitchell Marsh and Nicholas Pooran got starts but LSG’s middle order, including an out-of-sorts Rishabh Pant, crumbled again. The chase fizzled out with the their last six wickets falling for 26 runs.
The day began with Mayank being announced as Shardul Thakur’s replacement. He took the new ball and bowled in the mid 130-kph to early 140-kph range. The bumper he tried in the first over got spongy bounce and went above Rickelton’s head. But an overpitched ball next up was thumped down the ground.
In his next over, Mayank tested the middle of the pitch. Rohit Sharma hit two sixes with the pull, one in front of square and one behind. The response was a change in line, length and pace. It worked as Rohit reached out and sliced a slower length ball to short third.
Rickelton could’ve been run-out in the second over but Aiden Markram missed a direct hit from point. Rickelton showed his trust in the pitch as he slogged and pulled balls off a length. He drove a full toss down to take 15 off Prince Yadav’s first over. There were no other chances created in the 66-run powerplay.
Digvesh Rathi came in having not conceded a single six in the powerplay, but Rickelton slog swept him twice for two sixes over midwicket before reaching a 25-ball fifty. Rathi changed ends and bowled quicker and straighter on return. Rickelton’s tried to capitalise on the googly when it was tossed up outside off, but ended up slicing straight to point in the ninth over. He made 58.
Mayank was brought back with Suryakumar new at the crease. That didn’t work as Suryakumar launched him over his head. Jacks then got a couple of boundaries behind square both sides of the wicket. The slower balls, though, did keep the batters down and MI moved to 105 for 2 in 10 overs.
Prince’s reverse-swinging yorker then knocked Jacks over for 29. Suryakumar kept MI’s tempo going by hitting Bishnoi for a four and two sixes in the 13th over, but the 16-run over also saw the dismissal of Tilak Varma.
Suryakumar brought up his 4000th run in the IPL with a ramp off Avesh Khan and got another six off Prince over fine leg again. At 157 for 5 in 15 overs, MI were ready to launch but Mayank set them back when he dislodged Hardik’s leg stump and gave away just five runs in the 16th over. Suryakumar was then dismissed for 54 off 28 balls, but MI kept finding the boundaries.
Rathi’s off-day continued at the death as LSG continued with just five bowlers. The over started with an edged reverse sweep that went for four. It finished with 19 runs as Naman Dhir and Corbin Bosch got under the ball and launched sixes over the leg side. MI soared past 200 with an over to go. Four full tosses from Avesh in the 20th over helped MI post 215.
Aiden Markram was able to slash Boult, who started from around the wicket, through the off side for a couple of fours. Marsh then launched a flick over square leg off Deepak Chahar that nearly went out of the ground.
Bumrah was slightly lucky to get Markram as hi middled flick went straight into the hands of deep-backward square. Pooran got hold of Chahar in his third powerplay over, scything two wide yorkers for six before pulling a short ball for one more as LSG posted to 60 for 1 in six.
With Mitchell Santner out due to a finger niggle and a left-hander on the tear, Jacks was brought on ahead of Karn Sharma and he struck twice. The first ball was lobbed up in the slot but Pooran mistimed a lofted drive to long-off, where Suryakumar took a good catch.
Pant was back at No. 4 but endured another short stay at the crease. He edged a cut for four through third before miscuing a premeditated reverse sweep to Karn at short third. The wicket led to the two overs following the powerplay going for just 13 runs.
Ayush Badoni got off to a watchful start. He was on seven off seven balls before making room and and slashing Karn for two fours and a six. Marsh hit two fours off Hardik Pandya’s sole over but slowed down from 31 off 17 to 34 off 24. Hardik rang in the changes as five different bowlers were used between the eighth and 13th overs.
The asking rate rose close to 12 when Boult, on return, got Marsh with a slower ball and reduce LSG to 110 for 4. Badoni and David Miller continued the trend of the earlier partnership with Miller, the new batter, getting off to a quick start (21 off 13) while the set batter slowed down.
Badoni got away with an undetected edge in the 14th over but fell to a slower ball from Boult to end with 35 off 22 after being 30 off 15.
Bishnoi was able to launch a couple of sixes, the second of which was off Bumrah and brought out smiles and fist-pumps, but Bosch and Boult cleaned up the tail and completed MI’s 150th IPL win comprehensively.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians 215 for 7 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 58, Rohit Sharma 12, Will Jacks 29, Suryakumar Yadav 54, Naman Dhir 25*, Corbin Bosch 20*; Mayank Yadav 2-40, Prince Yadav 1-44, Digvesh Rathi 1-48, Ravi Bishnoi 1-41, Avesh Khan 2-42) beat Lucknow Super Giants 161 in 20 overs (Ayush Badoni 35, Mitchell Marsh 34, Nicholas Pooran 27,David Miller 24, Ravi Bishnoi 13*; Jasprit Bumrah 4-22, Trent Boult 3-20, Will Jacks 2-18, Corbin Bosch 1-26) by 54 runs
[Cricinfo]
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