The Mercantile Cricket Academy under 13 team defeated SSC Blues by 8 wickets to clinch the 2026 Thai Rose Challenge Trophy last Sunday.

The MCA Under 13’s led by Senula Ridmal (Capt) who had Abisis Pansilu as his deputy comprised Dinosh Sajanjana, Evan Perera, Avinda Imash, Kenuka Iruth , Tisath Rathnayake , Puminda Anusara , Pansilu Nishada, Dinhas Savidu , Yomika Silva, Lakira Sandira, Dilaksha Maheesha and Jaden Ranasinghe.

The team was coached by Imran Thahir (Head Coach), Hasitha Lanka (Snr Coach), Situm Fernando ( Snr Coach) and Milan Fernando (Asst Coach)

In the league stage, MCA Under 13s:

defeated BR CA by 96 runs

MCA

216/6 in 29 overs (Avinda Imash 88, Dinosh Sandanjana 34; Abilash Ransha 1-14)

BR CA

120/8 in 29 overs (Cheniru Silva 20*; Pansilu Liyanage 3-07, Dinhas Sasvindu 2-16)

defeated N P by 14 runs

MCA

178/8 in 30 overs (Thisath Rathnayake 63, Avinda Imash 28; Yenura Gamage 3-28, Anuja Wijerathne 4-27)

N P

164/10 in 28.4 overs (Gajindu Athapaththu 32, Kenuth Adikari 35; Puminda Anusara 5-28, Dinosh Sadanjana 2-22)

defeated Bradfield by 77 runs

MCA

167/9 in 30 overs (Dinosh Sadanjana 72, Yomika Silva 26; Kaveesha Fernando 4-22)

Bradfield

90/10 in 24 overs (Kaveesha Fernando 16; Senuka Rithmal 2-10, Lakira Sandira 2-15, Maheesha Kuluthanthrige 2-26, Pansilu Nishaditha 2-16)

defeated SSC Red by 117 runs

MCA

197/7 in 30 overs (Thisath Rathnayake 40, Avinda Imash 64, Evan Shenol 33, Dinosh Sadanjana 31; Military Nandasiri 1-11)

SSC Red

80/9 in 24.3 overs (Ethan Karunarathna 22; Kenuka Hiruth 3-17, Dinhas Sasvindu 3-03)

In the semi-final Pansilu Liyanage and Dinosh Sadanjana captured three wickets each while Thisath Rathnayake scored 41 and Dinosh Sadanjana contributed with 31 to help MCA Under 13s defeat SSC Blues by eight wickets.

SEMI FINAL

MCA defeated SSC Blue by 8 wickets (Parabola method)

SSC Blue

109/9 in 25 overs (Sathil Sanketh 19, Pansilu Liyanage 3-17, Dinosh Sadanjana 3-17)

MCA

80/3 in 16.4 overs (Thisath Rathnayake 41, Dinosh Sadanjana 31; Lashan Sanjitha 2-17)

In the final Dinosh Sadanjana starred with bat and ball (28 and 3/24) to be named player of the final while Evan Shenol topped the score card with 37 runs to be named the Best Batsman of the final.

FINAL

MCA defeated ARS CA by 45 runs

MCA

145/9 in 25 overs (Evan Shenol 37, Dinosh Sadanjana 28; Methuja Binal 2-13, Sanul Perera 2-24, Gihandu Nethsitha 3-16)

ARS

100/10 23.4 overs (Gihandu Nethsitha 34; Dinosh Sadanjana 3-24)

The 104th match at the FIFA World Cup 2026 pits European champions Spain against defending world and South American champions Argentina. Spain reached the final after outclassing favourites France in the semi-finals. Luis de la Fuente’s side controlled the match from start to finish, suffocating the high-powered France attack through long spells of possession and precise finishing.

That semi-final match against Les Bleus was the high point of Spain’s campaign so far. La Roja began their World Cup adventure by topping Group H, although it wasn’t all smooth sailing. Surprise package Cabo Verde held them to a scoreless draw in their opening match before De la Fuente’s men made up for their slow start by putting four past Saudi Arabia and then rounding off their group stage with a 1-0 victory over a feisty Uruguay.

Spain cruised through the Round of 32 with a comfortable 3-0 win over Austria. But in the following two rounds they needed late winning goals from Mikel Merino to overcome tough European opponents. The first of Merino’s strikes, in the Round of 16, came against Portugal [1-0] . They followed that up with a second last-gasp victory against Belgium [2-1] in a match in which they conceded what has, so far, been their only goal against of the tournament. Spain’s form has been steadily improving and against France they demonstrated why they were considered one of the favourites before the tournament began. Sunday 19 July will mark Spain’s first time back in the World Cup final since they lifted the trophy in 2010, when they contested the showpiece for the first time in South Africa.

Argentina have taken a hard, albeit thrilling, road to their second World Cup final in succession and seventh overall. The defending champions opened their campaign with three successive group stage victories, led by the extraordinary Lionel Messi, who now has eight goals in this tournament and 21 across his long World Cup career.

The Albiceleste defeated Algeria 3-0 thanks to a Messi hat-trick, Australia 2-0 thanks to two goals from the magician, and then Jordan 3-1 (with another Messi effort) to round off a perfect group stage. In the knockout rounds, their road got much more difficult. Lionel Scaloni’s men needed extra time to overcome a defiant Cabo Verde side in a 3-2 thriller. In the Round of 16, the score was the same and the match even more dramatic: Egypt held a 2-0 lead entering the 79th minute but Argentina flipped the script, producing a historic comeback to win 3-2.

In the last eight, Argentina went blow for blow with Switzerland and need extra time to eventually defeat opponents who, at 1-1, had gone down to ten men. Julian Alvarez eventually broke their resistance with a magnificent goal and Lautaro Martinez added a third for good measure.

The drama did not stop in the semi-final against England, who took the lead early in the second half thanks to Anthony Gordon and looked set to run down the clock. However, the Albiceleste once again rallied thanks to a long-range strike from Enzo Fernandez and a back-post header from substitute Martinez. As a result, Argentina now return to the final four years on from Qatar 2022 triumph against France, and once again European opposition stand between them and the World Cup trophy.

Previous World Cup meetings

Much has happened since the sole previous World Cup clash between Spain and Argentina, which took place in 1966 at Villa Park. It was the opening group fixture for the sides and the Albiceleste ran out 2–1 winners in a match where all the goals were scored in the second half. The key player for Argentina was centre-forward Luis Artime, who scored both of their goals, either side of midfielder Pirri’s strike for Spain.

That is the only official match between the two sides, who have played 13 friendly matches against each other over the years (six wins for Spain, five for Argentina, two draws). Their latest friendly took place in 2018 in Madrid with Spain hammering Argentina 6-1. As champions of their respective continents, they were due to meet this February in the Finalissima in Qatar but that match was cancelled.

Spain possible starting XI

Simon; Porro, Laporte, Cubarsi, Cucurella; Rodri, Fabian; Lamine Yamal, Olmo, Baena; Oyarzabal.

Argentina possible starting XI

Martinez; Nahuel, Romero, Lisandro Martinez, Tagliafico; Paredes, Mac Allister, Enzo Fernandez, Giuliano Simeone; Messi, Julian Alvarez

The world cup of tennis, the Davis cup Asia/Oceania Group IV 2026 will be held in Sri Lanka from the 20^th to the 25^th of July 2026 at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) courts. This tournament is held under the guidance of World Tennis, is the main team event for the male tennis players of the world.

There will be seven nations participating in the event to be held in Colombo. The teams being Iraq, Northern Mariana Islands, Qatar, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyztan, Kuwait and the host country Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lanka team for the tournament comprises of Apna Perera, Thehan Wijemanna, Ganuka Fernando and Saha Kapilasena making up the team with a blend of youth and experience with Mineth Navarathna being the stand by player. The team is coached by the experienced Sankha Athukorala with Lakshan Wijerathna being the physio/ Masseur of the team. The manager of the  team is  Rukmal Cooray.

The seven teams will be divided into two groups. One group of three teams and the other one of four teams. Matches will be played in the round robin format in the initial stages and the top two teams from the two groups will compete in cross over matches. The  two winners will be promoted from this event. The third placed teams from the two groups will play a demotion play off match. The loser will be demoted. The team which finishes in the 4^th place in the group of four will automatically be demoted. As such two teams will be promoted and two teams will be demoted.

Official practice days are the 20^th and the 21^st of July and the matches will be held from the 22^nd to the 25^th of July.

The captain’s meeting and the draw for the tournament will be held at the SLTA on Tuesday the 21^st at 10.00 am, while the opening ceremony of the event is expected to be held on Wednesday  the 22^nd of July at 9 30 am on the Center court.

The balls for the event will be Wilson US Open, with Trident Distributors, the official partner for Wilson sporting goods in Sri Lanka coming on board as the official ball suppliers for the event. Apart from this, Trident Sports under the guidance of Yasser Farook, the managing director has come on board as the official apparel partner for the Sri Lanka team as well.

All teams will be staying at the Cinnamon Lakeside hotel with Cinnamon Lakeside hotel coming on board as the official hospitality partner for this tournament.  Dushyantha Tittawella, the General manger of the hotel is pulling out all the stops to make sure that the teams have a comfortable stay whilst they are in Sri Lanka.

Perera and Son bakers limited will be the official food and beverage partner for the tournament and will be in charge of making sure that the players’ needs are met throughout this event.

The tournament Director is  Dinith Pathiraja and has  S Thevanesan as his assistant.

Wan Xianling of China is the referee for the event and  Dharaka Ellawala being his deputy. There are six Chair umpires who have been appointed with two of them being Sri Lankans, namely Anjana De Silva and Chamod Rupassara. Jeyachandirun Saarangan is the Chief of Umpires and Adheesha Paranagama, Prageeth Polgampola, Pasindu Sampath and Yumira Kuruppu rounding up the tournament staff for the event with Mrs Nipuni Maheshika being the safeguarding officer and the UNO official for the tournament.

The SLTA president Iqbal Bin Issack with  General Secretary  Pradeep Goonasekera have been advising and looking into all the arrangements to make this tournament a success.

From left: Dinith Pathiraja (Tournament Director, Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group IV Event), Iqbal Bin Issack (President, Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA)), Yasser Farook (Managing Director, Trident Distributors (Wilson Agents in Sri Lanka), Pradeep S. Goonasekera (General Secretary, Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA)), Rukmal Cooray (Vice President, Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA))

From left : Dinith Pathiraja (Tournament Director, Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group IV Event), Iqbal Bin Issack (President, Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA)), Dushyantha Tittawella (General Manager, Cinnamon Lakeside), Pradeep S. Goonasekera (General Secretary, Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA)), Rukmal Cooray (Vice President, Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA))

(PDES)