Sports
The Miracle Man
Rex Clementine
at Pallekele
Just as you began to think that Josh Hazlewood is emerging as the best fast bowler in the world and in fact Australia’s pace attack is infallible, Dasun Shanka told us to hold on. On Saturday night he reminded us that only the Pope is infallible. We had started marveling the Australian attack. There looked no weak link which Sri Lanka could attack. All bowlers were on the money showcasing in the Colombo leg of the series why they are World Champions. But in Kandy, Dasun singlehandedly proved that there’s a chink in the Aussie armor and after all they are not invincible. He also proved that when the World Cup gets underway in October down under, Sri Lanka are not going to be also rans. Hazlewood had barely bowled a loose ball whole series. His first three overs on Saturday had gone for three runs, produced two wickets and a maiden. You must be insane to take on such credentials, reason would have suggested. But Dasun believed in something else – fortune favours the brave. He hit two consecutive sixes and two back to back fours in that over before smartly picking up a single off the last ball to retain the strike. Sri Lanka needed 37 from two overs now. The pressure was now on Jhye Richardson who bowled the penultimate over. He served a full toss first ball and Dasun needed no invitation. He was waiting to spoil Australia’s whitewash party. It was hit for a six. That over produced 18 runs and Sri Lanka needed 19 off the last over.
Kane Richardson served two consecutive wides to make things easier for Sri Lanka. Shanaka then with some clean hits sealed the game. It was barely believable. The Aussies went to sleep thinking it was a bad dream.
A man who passionately feels for his fans and players, Dasun has been rebuilding Sri Lanka’s white ball teams since last year when the bubble was breached and three prominent players were exiled. Not much had gone right for Sri Lanka since then. This year the team has lost nine T20s and won only two. That’s what everyone says, but what they don’t say is that all those games have been against Australia, the World Champions or India, world’s number one ranked team. Dasun has put up a more or less settled bowling line-up. Most of them were raw when he took up the mantle under trying circumstances after an ugly pay dispute. He has developed them into match winning players.
The batting still doesn’t look convincing. There are too many players whose mindset are defensive and unsuitable for T20 cricket. The general consensus is that Kusal Mendis and Bhankua Rajapaksa are better off top of the order during Power Plays. But Dasun’s theory seems to be that once players have been identified, they need to be given the long rope. He needs to be given a fair hearing.
Pakistan will play Sri Lanka in the Women’s Asia Cup semi-final on Friday after they secured a thumping win over Hong Kong in the final Group A contest. They finished second in their group with a 72-run win set up by a record-breaking spell of 6 for 7 from Nashra Sandhu and a resolute 35-ball 47 from Shawaal Zulfiqar.
Pakistan scored 143 for 8 after electing to bat first for the third time in as many matches, with Ayessha Zafar and captain Fatima Sana making valuable contributions of 26 off 19 and run-a-ball 24, respectively, before an excellent display of bowling saw Hong Kong fold for 71 in 19 overs.
Zulfiqar lives up to expectations
Zulfiqar made a thumping comeback to the T20I side last month in Sri Lanka and it made Pakistan persist with her at the top of the order despite the return of experienced Gull Feroza, who slid down to one-down. She could not build on a start against India with the wickets tumbling from the other end and the pressure mounting. But the right-hander fought through on Monday, despite the dismissals of experienced batters around her in Muneeba Ali (6 off 7) and Feroza (3 off 4).
Despite batting on a challenging surface that played slow and gripped, Zulfiqar timed the ball well as she struck six boundaries. She hit a few sparkling cover drives and stitched a sparkling partnership of 47 off 34 with Zafar before the latter fell in the 10th over. No Pakistan batter, barring Zafar and Fatima, was able to emulate the 21-year-old in an innings which saw only four batters post in the double digits.
Zulfqar was eventually outsmarted b Joyleen Kaur as she smashed a flighted ball outside off right back to the bowler to be caught and bowled in the 12th over. Pakistan seemed well in control until she was at the crease, but could add only 51 runs in 8.4 overs after her dismissal.
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Nashra Sandhu makes history
Pakistan Women 143 for 8 in 20 overs (Shawaal Zulfiqar 47, Ayesha Zafar 26; Fatima Sana 14; Iqra Sathar 2-27, Kary Chan 2-33, Joyleen Kaur 4-19) beat Hong Kong Women 71/10 in 19 overs (Yasmin Daswai 13, Kary Chan 30, Joyleen Kaur 10; Fatima Sana 1-07, Sadia Iqbal 1-08, Um e Sabi1 1-21 Nashra Sandhu 6-07, ) by 72 runs
The Indian Naval Ship (INS) Udaygiri arrived at the Port of Colombo on an official visit today, 8 September 2026, where it was received by the Sri Lanka Navy in accordance with time-
honoured naval traditions.
INS Udaygiri is a 149.02m long Frigate, Commanded by Captain Vikas Sood. Meanwhile, the Commanding Officer of the visiting ship is scheduled to call on Commander Western Naval
Area, Rear Admiral Harsha De Silva at the Western Naval Command Headquarters.
Captain Sood served as the Defence Adviser at the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka from July 2020 to October 2023.
During their stay in the island, the crew of INS Udaygiri will participate in several goodwill events organized by the Sri Lanka Navy to enhance camaraderie between the two forces.
The visiting personnel are also scheduled to visit prominent tourist and cultural locations across the island.
Additionally, Sri Lanka Navy personnel are expected to visit the ship for capability observation and knowledge sharing, and will conduct onboard training during its stay.
Sri Lanka’s women continue to provide compelling evidence that they could be genuine contenders for the next World Cup, while their male counterparts have, in recent years, largely been making up the numbers at global events.
The defending Asia Cup champions, who stunned formidable India in Dambulla two years ago to lift the title, marched into this year’s semi-finals with an unbeaten record.
Sri Lanka topped their group with three wins from three games and importantly, will avoid India in the semi-finals. Their opponents in Friday’s knockout clash will be either Pakistan or Thailand.
For years, Sri Lanka have leaned heavily on their talismanic captain Chamari Athapaththu, one of the greats of the women’s game. More recently, however, others have begun putting their hands up when the skipper has fallen cheaply. That growing depth has also given Chamari greater freedom to play her natural, attacking game.
Last week, Nilakshika de Silva produced a rescue act against Indonesia. On Sunday, after the captain fell to only her second ball, it was the turn of vice-captain Harshitha Samarawickrama to take charge and steer Sri Lanka home through choppy waters.
Chasing 115 to win their final group game against Bangladesh at Dubai Sports City, Sri Lanka were quickly in trouble as seamer Marufa Akter sent both openers packing cheaply. With wickets continuing to tumble at the other end, Harshitha kept her head while others were losing theirs.
At 44 for five, with half the side back in the pavilion, Sri Lanka were staring down the barrel. Harshitha and Nilakshika then began the repair job, adding 38 for the sixth wicket to drag the innings back from the brink.
Marufa has been an outstanding find for Bangladesh and they rely heavily on her for breakthroughs. With one over remaining in her quota, she was summoned back to break the partnership and did precisely that, removing a well set Nilakshika as she attempted to improvise.
There was, however, no stopping Harshitha.
She found a reliable ally in wicketkeeper Kaushini Nuthyangana and the pair calmly took Sri Lanka across the line with an unbroken 33 run stand for the seventh wicket. Harshitha finished unbeaten on 38 off 47 balls, striking four fours and two sixes.
Sri Lanka got home with four balls to spare, maintaining their perfect record in the competition. Yet beneath the celebrations there will be a nagging concern: the batting has collapsed too often, leaving one or two players with far too much heavy lifting to do. That is something they will need to address before the stakes rise further.
Sri Lanka will play the second semi-final on Friday, with the final scheduled for Sunday.
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