Sports

Sri Lanka secure hard fought win against Proteas

Published

5 years ago

2021/09/3

By Rex Clementine

Sri Lanka went 1-0 up in the three match ODI series against South Africa with a hard fought 14 run win at RPS last night, but their win could be marred by a slow over rate fine and reduction of the points in the World Cup qualifiers as they nearly took four hours to complete 50 overs.

Sri Lanka have a terrible slow over rate problem and there was little urgency yesterday as Dasun Shanaka’s side went about things at their own pace. Akila Dananjaya was the biggest culprit moving about things like a European on a holiday in down south.

Despite the short coming, it was a fine effort by the batsmen to post a total of 300 and although South Africa threatened to chase it down, they fell short as the scoreboard pressure took to them.

There’s no better sight in Sri Lankan cricket at the moment than Avishka Fernando in full flow. Of course, there is the exceptional talent of Kusal Mendis, but currently he is ‘doing time’ for his excesses. Avishka was at his awesome best posting his third ODI hundred. Usually, when a team scores 300 at RPS, it’s good night Vienna. No team has chased down successfully a target in excess of 300 at this ground although it has hosted more than 130 ODIs.

Pushed out of the side for failing a fitness test in January, Avishka has been a breath of fresh air since making a comeback two months ago. Mickey Arthur’s fitness regime seems to be working as the opening batsman put up a fine show against a formidable attack. It took him 74 balls to reach his half-century but he stepped up the gas after reaching the milestone as the next 50 runs came off just 31 balls.

Avishka had set the stage for Sri Lanka to accelerate in the death overs and the last ten overs produced 90 runs.

Avishka added 57 runs for the first wicket with Minod Bhanuka (27) as the wicketkeeper was preferred over former captain Dinesh Chandimal. The centurion then added 79 runs for the third wicket with Dhananjaya de Silva (44) who looked comfortable at his new role of number four.

The 97 runs stand between Avishka and Charith Asalanka that came off 71 balls proved to be the turning point. Asalanka made 72 that came off 62 balls.

Aiden Markram gave South African a fine start smashing 96 off 90 balls. His dismissal slowed things up a bit. Rassie van der Dussen played the spin bowlers superbly with some fine reverse sweeps and sweeps. He made 59 and was dismissed trying to keep pace with the climbing required run rate.

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Colombo Kaps down Dambulla Sixers by 21 runs

Published

7 hours ago

2026/07/26

Priyan

Colombo Kaps defended 197 runs to win the 12th match of the Lanka Premier League by restricting Dambulla Sixers to 176/8 at the Dambulla International Cricket Stadium on Saturday [25] night.

SCORES:
Colombo Kaps 197/5 in 20 overs [Rubin Hermann 39, Sadeera Samarawickrema 16, Sharujan Shanmuganathan 12, Kamindu Mendis 88*, Ben McDermott 14, Janith Liyanage 17; Fazalhaq Farooki 1-41, Dushmantha Chameera 1-41, Ramesh Mendis 1-05, Gulabdin Naib 1-15]
Dambulla Sixers 176/8 in 20 overs [Pavan Rathnayake 50, Marques Ackerman 40, Gulabdin Naib 28, Maheesh Thhekshana 13; Shahnawaz Dahani 2-20, Wanuja Sahan 1-34, Mujeeb Ur Rahman 2-33, Malsha Tharupathi 1-26, Milan Rathnayake 1-26]

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Kandy Royals win by 11 runs

Published

8 hours ago

2026/07/26

Priyan

Nuwan Thushara starred with three wickets

Kandy Royals’ bowlers led by Nuwan Thushara were able to defend their score of 165 to win the 11th match of the Lanka Premier League by defeating Galle Gallants by 11 runs at Dambulla on Saturday.

SCORES:
Kandy Royals 165/6 in 20 overs [Lahiru Udara 16, Dale Phillips 34, Wanidu Hasaranga 16, Moeen Ali 41, Angelo Mathews 28, Vijay Shankar 15; Pramod Madushan 2-41, Akif Javed 2-26, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth 2-36]

Galle Gallants 154/8 in 20 overs [Sam Harper 14, Charith Asalanka 14, Chamika Karunarathne 52, Dasun Shanaka 57*; Nuwan Thushara 3-33, Asitha Fernando 2-33, Moeen Ali 1-11, Wanidu Hasaranga 1-26]

Sports

Jaffna Kings LPL side under SLC purview

Published

14 hours ago

2026/07/26

Thilina Walpola

Jaffna Kings former co-owner Manjot Kalra is in judicial custody until July 31

Innovative Production Group (IPG), the tournament rights holder of the Lanka Premier League (LPL), in consultation with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), has terminated the franchise agreement with Sports Commune, which was granted franchise rights of the Jaffna Kings.

The termination follows the franchisee’s inability to fulfil its financial obligations under the terms of the franchise agreement. As a result, all rights relating to the Jaffna Kings franchise have reverted to IPG, which, together with Sri Lanka Cricket, has assumed full operational control of the team.

IPG confirms that the 6th edition of the LPL will proceed as scheduled and Jaffna Kings will continue to participate in the tournament under the same nomenclature, with no changes to the squad, tournament format, or match schedule.

To ensure the uninterrupted operation of the franchise, IPG and Sri Lanka Cricket have taken complete responsibility for all player, coaching staff, and support staff contracts. The organizers also confirm that all logistical arrangements for the team have been secured, ensuring the squad is intact for the tournament.

Furthermore, approximately 90% of all player and staff payments have already been completed, with the remaining payments to be settled in accordance with contractual commitments.

IPG and Sri Lanka Cricket remain committed to delivering a successful sixth edition of the Lanka Premier League while upholding the highest standards of professionalism, integrity and transparency for players, teams, commercial partners, and fans.