Sports

Schoolboy aggression and Shahid Zumri’s rugby show for Isipatana

Published

3 years ago

2023/07/12

A St. Anthony’s College forward tries to surge ahead in the team’s Division 1 Segment A rugby match of the inter-school under 19 league rugby tournament against Wesley at Royal Sports Complex on Sunday.

By A Special Sports Correspondent

Isipatana College proved to be top contenders for the inter-school league rugby title on yet another occasion when they demolished D.S. Senanayake College with a smashing 22-6 win at Havelock Park last week. The Green Shirts are playing cohesive rugby and promising the quality of a club game each time they take to the field. We are seeing school rugby being played very competitively and much money is invested each season to ensure that the players get the best facilities to be involved in the game; hence the quality of rugby we see.

But in this league featuring schoolboys one must remember or keep in mind that the coaches are dealing with children and there are limits and also boundaries where expectations and aggression can or should reach. In the match against Isipatana and D.S. Senanayake (DSS) the referee was heard telling both captains more than once that aggression must be controlled. He was heard adding “if you cannot do it as captains I then know how to control them”. A captain must have the ability within to control his players and it must be taken note of that a captain’s role is not complete just by dazzling in the slot he is played in.

The player to watch in the Isipatana camp was centre Shahid Zumri. He produced a wonderful try in the first half with a scintillating run through the DSS defence and in the second half fed a try which many rugby fans haven’t seen in many years. At a time when rugby is more a game of brawn than skill it was welcoming to see Zumri making a break and then doing a flip pass in Fiji style in the process of offloading the ball and then having a hand again in the try in another feeding move. So in other words he had the ball in his hands twice before the try was produced and didn’t show any selfishness in trying to go over the line himself. The only little setback for the winners was kicker Rinesh Silva having kept his kicking boots at home; the place kicker missing three conversions and an attempt at converting a penalty. Those kicks if they were accurate would have swelled the score line. DSS played well but playing anything less than your best against a team like Isipatana can spell disaster; the final score line suggests that.

Isipatana’s Shahid Zumri (right) encounters
aggression from a D.S. Senanayake player
while returning after scoring his team’s
second try in a Division 1 Segment A rugby
match of the inter-school under 19 league
rugby tournament played at Havelock Park.
(Pix by Kamal Wanniarachchi)

The other game that produced breathtaking moments was the one between Wesley and St. Anthony’s played in Colombo where the lads from Katugastota pulled off a thriller. Any high-scoring game entertains no doubt but what can be said about defence? Both teams must work on tackling.

But leave that aspect of the game aside the Anthonians had the edge in the second half and many thought deserved to win. The man who spearheaded the win was skipper Sahan Keerthisiri who marveled everyone with his kicking skills. He tested the Wesley defence with his up and unders and kicks to touch and slotted in a penalty from a distance of 52 metres in the second half to put his team in front at a time when Wesley were leading 22-20. Mention must be made of St. Anthony’s College back line players Tyrone Mariyadas and Ravindu Welagedara for scoring brilliant tries, the former in the first and the latter in the second. These tries really rattled the Wesley team.

But Wesley was not in the mood to cave in and produced tries through Abdullah Sideek (2), Kaizer Lye (1), C. Nimsara (1) while Abdul Haadhi converted three tries and knocked over a penalty.

Another team that is showing all the makings of striking gold this season is Royal College which did well to down Zahira College 44-3 in Colombo. Royal opened out in the second half and raked in six tries and also earned two penalties. Four converted conversions also added to the final Royal score line. As for Zahira it was a first half game and they had no answer when Royal opened the floodgates on them in the second session of the game.

The other teams which produced wins in the fourth week of the tournament were St. Peter’s, Vidyartha and St. Joseph’s, which outplayed Kingswood in Kandy by 48 points to 15. Skipper Navin Marasinghe produced a hat-trick of tries which helped post his side’s first win this season.

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Related Topics:Isipathana College Rugby team St. Anthony’s College Rugby Team

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Sports

India to host inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy in February

Published

13 hours ago

2026/09/3

Priyan

The Brabourne Stadium hasn't hosted an international game since December 2022 [BCCI]

The inaugural six-team Women’s Champions Trophy has been moved from Sri Lanka to India, and will be played in Mumbai and Vadodara from February 14 to 28 next year.

The Brabourne Stadium and the Vadodara International Cricket Stadium will host the T20 tournament. Despite losing the hosting rights because of government interference in their cricket board, Sri Lanka will still be part of the tournament, having qualified after being in the top six of the T20I rankings on the July 6 qualification cut-off date. Australia, England, India, New Zealand and South Africa are the other teams.

According to a media release, the ICC assessed three candidates – Bangladesh, India and South Africa – against its established host evaluation criteria before recommending India as the replacement host on Wednesday.

The Brabourne Stadium hasn’t hosted an international game since December 2022, when India women hosted Australia for a T20I series. It hosted the first-ever season of the WPL in 2023 and also a few matches in 2025. Vadodara, meanwhile, has hosted WPL matches in 2025 and 2026.

The Champions Trophy was due to be Sri Lanka’s second ICC event in two years after they also co-hosted the 2026 men’s T20 World Cup with India. The six participating teams will compete in a round-robin league, with the top two sides advancing to the final on February 28.

The SLC is under interim administration, called the Transformation Committee, which was put in place by the Sri Lankan government and will oversee major board changes including those to its constitution. The ICC does not recognise politically appointed administrations and SLC representatives have not been at ICC board meetings since the Transformation Committee was put in place.

[Cricinfo]

Sports

Mendis, Nissanka return for England white ball series

Published

22 hours ago

2026/09/3

Sahan Weerasooriya

Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka return to the side after missing India Tests due to injuries.

by Rex Clementine

Prolific batsman Pathum Nissanka and white-ball captain Kusal Mendis are back in the fold after being named in Sri Lanka’s ODI and T20 squads for the six-match tour of England later this month.

Both Mendis and Nissanka missed the recent Test series against India through injury. Nissanka was recovering from wrist surgery, while Mendis suffered a hamstring injury during the LPL. It was the first major injury setback for the wicketkeeper batter, who has been a fixture in the Sri Lankan side for more than a decade.

Interestingly, Charith Asalanka has returned to the leadership group as vice-captain. Asalanka was stripped of the captaincy in both white ball formats earlier this year and subsequently fell out of favour with the selectors. His elevation suggests that the experiment of grooming Kamindu Mendis as the all-format vice-captain has, for the moment at least, been shelved.

There are, however, a few concerns heading into the tour. Kusal Mendis and Dushmantha Chameera have not featured in the ongoing domestic tournament, leaving them short of competitive cricket. Chameera’s lack of preparation will be particularly concerning given the fast bowler’s lengthy history of injuries. Pathum Nissanka did turn up for NCC though during this week’s T-20 competition but didn’t make an impact.

The inclusion of 28-year-old leg-spinner Sachindu Colombage in the ODI squad has also raised a few eyebrows.

While Sri Lanka’s T20 game remains a work in progress, their ODI fortunes have taken a significant turn for the better. The side has found consistency and made rapid strides, underlined by automatic qualification for next year’s World Cup in South Africa. It is a marked contrast to the build-up to the 2023 edition, when Sri Lanka were forced to travel to Zimbabwe and negotiate the qualifying tournament to earn their place at the World Cup.

Sri Lanka will begin the tour with the T20 series, with Southampton hosting the opener on September 15. The teams then travel to Cardiff and Manchester before the ODI leg gets underway at Chester-le-Street. Headingley will stage the second ODI, with the tour concluding at The Oval.

The Sri Lankan squad will leave for London on Saturday, September 5, giving them ten days to prepare for the six-match white-ball assignment.

ODI squad: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kamindu Mendis, Charith Asalanka (vice-captain), Kusal Mendis (captain), Janith Liyanage, Pavan Rathnayake, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Sachindu Colombage, Dushmantha Chameera, Eshan Malinga, Asitha Fernando and Dilshan Madushanka.

T20 squad: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Lahiru Udara, Kusal Mendis (captain), Kamindu Mendis, Charith Asalanka (vice-captain), Janith Liyanage, Dasun Shanaka, Dunith Wellalage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Tharindu Rathnayake, Dushmantha Chameera, Eshan Malinga, Nuwan Thushara and Binura Fernando.

Sports

Sampath, bowlers steer Golden Green Plantations to title

Published

23 hours ago

2026/09/3

Sahan Weerasooriya

MCA Premier League Champions 2026 Golden Green Plantations

MCA – ABANS PREMIER LEAGUE 2026

A skipper’s innings of 70 runs off 89 balls by T M Sampath and a four fer by Hesham Madushanaka and two wickets by Upul Hettiarachchi helped new comers to the MCA cricket arena Golden Green Plantations defeat David Pieris Group of Companies by four wickets in the final of the MCA-Abans Premier League 2026 and become the first winners of the ‘Abans Challenge Trophy’.

Electing to bat first David Pieris Group of Companies were restricted to 147 runs in 39.3 overs. Santhush Gunathilake who opened innings topped the score card with a fluent 53 off 50 balls with seven fours and a six. Asitha Wanninayake chipped in with 31 off 59 balls. Heshan Madushanka captured four wickets for 11 runs.

Chasing 148 to win, skipper T M Sampath scored 70 runs off 89 balls with seven boundaries and two sixes before being stumped off the bowling of Dilanka Auwardt, with score on 122/5. Shammu Ashan and Mohamed Shamaz shared a 25 run partnership to equal the scores at 147/6 and Shammu Ashan scored the winning runs with a four.

The Golden Green Plantation Team led by T M Samapth comprised, Heshn Madushanka, Malith Mihiranga, Mohamed Shamaz, Randika Mihiranga, Upul Httiarachchi, Dhanuja Induwara, Gimadu Malkam, Sammu Ashan , Vikum Sanjaya and Johan Pathirana

With only four teams entering the prestigious MCA Premier Leaguethis year, DFCC Bank secured third spot having a slightly better run rate over Nawaloka Hospitals and were unlucky that the opportunity for securing a spot in the final was washed away as qualifier 2 was abandoned on two consuecutive days due to rain.

Player of the Final T M Sampath of Golden Green Plantations receives his trophy from Sajith Athapaththu Chairman of the MCA Social, Bar and Restaurant Committee

Special Awards:

Best fielder of the Final :

Dhanuja Induwara of Golden Green Plantations [3 catches and 1 runout]

Best bowler of the Final:

Heshan Madushanka of Golden Green Plantations [4 wickets for 11 runs]

Best batsman of the Final:

Santhush Gunathilake of David Pieris Group of Companies [53 runs off 50 balls]

Player of the Final ;

T M Sampath of Golden Green Plantations [70 runs and 1 wicket]

Best bowler of the Tournament:

Tharinda Nirmal of David Pieris Group of Companies [13 wickets in 4 innings]

Best batsman of the Tournament: