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Shenal wins as Nestomalt Cycling Challenge provides positive restart

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Under 23 men’s winner Shenal Chamod de Silva (centre), first runner up Supun Piumal (left) and second runner up Dinesh Chameera pose with their awards. Also in the picture are (from left) Nalin Adhikariarachchige, Secretary Sri Lanka Cycling Federation (SLCF), K.P.P Pathirana (Former President SLCF), Damitha Kulatunga, Senior Manager Public Affairs of  Nestle Lanka PLC and Asanka Muhandiram Sales Promotions Manager- Nestomalt.

Sri Lanka Ports Authority’s Shenal Chamod de Silva won the Under 23 men’s 40 km race of the Nestomalt Cycling Challenge 2021, successfully held at Viharamahadevi Park, Colombo on Sunday.

Supun Piumal of Sri Lanka Navy and Dinesh Chameera of Sri Lanka Police finished second and third respectively.

The Nestomalt Cycling Challenge 2021 was successfully held on 7 November 2021, at Viharamahadevi Park, Colombo, with the participation of over 200 professional cyclists from around the country. Organized by the Cycling Federation of Sri Lanka under the guidance of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, the event was sponsored by Nestomalt, as part of its ambition to provide a positive start and power progress for Sri Lankans.

“Since the outbreak of the pandemic, there have been little to no platforms for athletes to compete and develop. As a brand that has always supported physical activity, we were proud to join hands with the Cycling Federation of Sri Lanka to power the ambitions of our talented cyclists and provide them an opportunity to excel in the sport they love,” said Ruwan Welikala, Nestlé’s Vice President – Dairy.

Over 200 professional cyclists from around the country took part
in the event.

Held under strict Health Ministry guidelines to ensure participants’ safety, this event helped recommence sporting activities in the country which were on hold due to the pandemic. It was also a great platform for professional cyclists aspiring to compete at national and international level to showcase their talent, grit, and sportsmanship.

The event comprised of seven races, which saw fierce competition from the participants.

Results:

U23 Men (40km) –

1. Shenal Chamod de Silva -Sri Lanka Ports Authority

2. Supun Piumal -Sri Lanka Navy

3. Dinesh Chameera-Sri Lanka Police



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Parag, Chahal make it two in two for Rajasthan Royals

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Parag went from a run-a-ball 26 a 45-ball 84* to help RR post a competitive 185 (IPL)

In a see-saw encounter, Rajasthan Royals prevailed over a fighting Delhi Capitals after a collective bowling effort backed up Riyan Parag’s heroics with the bat. It gave Royals their second win on the trot, while Rishabh Pant’s men were condemned with another bitter pill to swallow in their second outing of IPL 2024.

The pitch at the Sawai Man Singh stadium did not offer the best chance for strokeplay early on. It required the batters spending some time on it to adjust to the slight slowness available. This allowed Delhi Capitals to exploit the conditions to their advantage. First up, Mukesh Kumar castled Yashasvi Jaiswal from round the wicket. Sanju Samson could not have an impact either as Khaleel Ahmed had him caught behind from round the wicket. Soon after, Jos Buttler was trapped LBW by Kuldeep, who was confident enough to push it through a review. At 36/3, in the 8th over the Royals innings was seemingly going nowhere.

The situation called for some nous and Rajasthan gambled with R Ashwin at No. 5. They’ve not been shy to use such a tactic before as it allowed the big-hitters to come down the innings with more license to break free. But Parag and Ashwin were smart together in stitching a neat partnership worth 54. Ashwin was not averse to sweeping Kuldeep Yadav and even managed a couple of neat pulls against Anrich Nortje. His 19-ball 29 put the innings back on course and gave Parag, who had been circumspect until then with a run-a-ball 26, a springboard to launch ahead.

As the innings drew towards a close, Parag had a great sense of how it was playing and what the bowlers were offering. He began to unleash a series of confident shots to up the ante. First Khaleel Ahmed, who had been on the mark up until then, was taken down in his final over as Parag went 6, 4, 4 as the pacer attempted wide yorkers. Mukesh Kumar erred on the fuller side and was promptly put away as Parag raced to a fifty. But the icing on the cake came in the final over of the innings bowled by Nortje.

It turned out to be a takedown for the ages as Nortje steamed in quick but was dispatched to the boundary as quickly. Parag was lucky that he edged a couple with third man up, but the risk was on as Nortje challenged him to clear the square boundaries with his wide lines. Parag was up for that challenge when it was banged in short as well and pulled him for a couple of sixes. The final over read 4, 4, 6 , 4 , 6, 1 as Parag raced away to an unbeaten 84 and propelled RR to a competitive total.

Delhi Capitals were desperate for a good start to the chase and they found that with an imposing Mitchell Marsh muscling some early boundaries. He hit five fours in his 23 but was soon bowled by an chopping on an incoming delivery from Nandre Burger. One brought two as Burger then had Ricky Bhui gloving a sharp short ball to the wicket-keeper. At 30/2, DC’s chase was in danger of a short circuit.

The experienced pair of David Warner and Rishabh Pant now joined hands as they set about playing with a mixture of caution and aggression. Together they put on a rather patient 67 off 47 balls. While it did not do much in terms of taking the required run-rate down, it allowed them a base to launch a final counterattack from. Even as the duo fell in quick succession, and Yuzvendra Chahal struck twice, DC found more starts at the back-end.

Tristan Stubbs had a moment of luck when he was put down by Trent Boult off R Ashwin. This put him on course for a boundary-filled counterattack. Ashwin was put over the fence a couple of times, while Sandeep Sharma’s slower balls were clobbered with immense power. As Axar Patel too chipped in with a useful boundary, the equation tapered down to 17 needed off the final over. At this point, Avesh Khan stepped up to bowl a boundary-less over against the well-set batters as he executed his plans to perfection.

What next?

Delhi Capitals have a couple of days gap before they take on Chennai Super Kings in their adopted home of Vizag on March 31. The following day, Rajasthan Royals play their first away game of the season as they travel to Mumbai.

Brief Scores:
Rajasthan Royals 185/5 in 20 overs (Riyan Parag 84*, Ravichandran Ashwin 29, Dhruv Jurel 20; Khaleel Ahmed 1-24, Mukesh Kumar 1-49, Anrich Nortje 1-48, Axar Patel 1-21, Kuldeep Yadav 1-41 ) beat Delhi Capitals 173/5 in 20 overs  (David Warner 49, Mitchell Marsh 23, Rishabh Punt 28,  Tristan Stubbs 44*; Nandre Burger 2-29, Avesh Khan 1-29,  Yuzvendra Chahal 2/19) by 12 runs

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Sri Lanka create major upset in basketball Asia Cup

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Sri Lanka created the biggest upset in the ongoing FIBA Asia 3x3 tournament in Singapore when they beat Korea yesterday.

Sri Lanka’s basketball team created a major upset when they beat one of sport’s powerhouses – Korea – in the FIBA 3×3 Asia Cup played in Singapore yesterday.The young Sri Lankan team were total outsiders against Korea, who are a strong side in the region. The Koreans outmatched the Sri Lankans with their height and were off to a blistering start taking an early lead.

However, the Sri Lankans hung in there, shot and drove to the basket with determination and more importantly converted the free throws to create the biggest upset in the tournament.

With the clock ticking in the final moments, Pawan Gamage’s explosive drive to the basket made the Korean defence collapse and smartly, he offloaded the ball to Dasun Nilantha, who executed a jump shot from short corner to give Sri Lanka a hard fought 21-19 win.

While Sri Lanka progressed to the last 12 and are one step away from a quarter-final slot, big brother India were knocked out of the competition after a shock defeat to Malaysia.

Sri Lanka will compete alongside Mongolia and Thailand today as the only South Asian nation to qualify for the final round.

Sri Lanka have remained unbeaten in the competition having won all three of their games. Their first win came against another strong side – Indonesia, whom they beat 21-14.

The game against Mongolia will be worked off today (Friday) at 12:10 pm Sri Lanka time while the Thailand fixture is at 6:05 pm.

The condensed format of the sport is somewhere the national team has made huge strides over the years and with more backing from Sri Lanka Basketball Federation and Ministry of Sports, the team could go on to do wonders.

The 3×3 arm of local basketball is a well-organized unit with regular events. International exposure for the team could help them to reach new heights.

The Sri Lankan 3×3 team represents several parts of the country showcasing how much the talent is spread around the country. While Rukshan Atapattu and Pawan Gamage are from Colombo, Simron Yoganathan is from Jaffna and Dasun Nilantha hails from Ambalangoda.

While Atapattu is an undergraduate at the University of Moratuwa, Gamage is attached to Sri Lanka Army. Yoganathan is employed at Commercial Credit while Dasun is with the Ministry of Education.

Tharindu Fernando is the coach of the team.The Sri Lankan team has been sponsored by Vaaj Group for the last three years. The team is also training at Vaaj Fitness Center in Nawala.

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Kasun Rajitha returns home with back injury

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by Rex Clementine

Sri Lanka will be without the services of fast bowler Kasun Rajitha for the second Test against Bangladesh that gets underway on Saturday in Chittagong. Rajitha was the most successful seamer as Sri Lanka won the opening Test by 328 runs inside four days.

Rajitha finished with career best figures of eight for 112 in the opening Test including a five-wicket haul in the second innings.Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) said that the fast bowler was returning home due to a back injury.

Rajitha has been primarily used for Test match cricket by the new selection panel and he hadn’t played in any white ball cricket this year. His absence is a blow for Sri Lanka but the good news is that Asitha Fernando has been flown in as replacement.

Chamika Gunasekara is already a part of the squad and it remains to be seen whether Asitha gets the nod to play ahead of Gunasekera.

Asitha Fernando would have been the first pick among Sri Lanka’s quicks but at the time of the selections he was unavailable having suffered a hamstring injury. He was initially thought to be out of the series but has recovered sufficiently.

Asitha was the hero for Sri Lanka when they won a Test series in Bangladesh last time. After the first Test was drawn, Asitha claimed a match bag of ten for 144 in the second Test in Dhaka in 2022 to help Sri Lanka to a ten-wicket win.

Bangladesh were well set at 156 for five but were bowled out for 169 as they lost the last five wickets for just 13 runs. The specialty of Asitha is that when the ball gets older and the wicket gets flatter, he runs in and troubles the batters reverse swinging the older ball to deadly effect. His bouncers are also quite unsettling to the batters and he’s emerging as a leading fast bowler in the world.

Sri Lanka’s fast bowlers have struggled with injuries in recent times and in a year where there is lot of cricket, they need their quicks firing on all cylinders.

This year Sri Lanka will play Test matches in England and South Africa apart from hosting New Zealand at home. There’s also the T-20 World Cup in the United States and the Caribbean in June.

In a bid to address the injury concerns, Sri Lanka have roped in reputed physiotherapist Jonathan Porter, who had been working with the Australian team. The recruitment had been done on the recommendations of Alex Kountouris, the former physiotherapist of the national cricket team.

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