Sports

Ahan, Kawshitha crack big knocks

Published

5 years ago

2021/03/22

by Reemus Fernando

Ahan Wickramasinghe and Kawshitha Kodithuwakku cracked blistering knocks as Royal, Mahinda, St. Thomas’, Matara, St. Anthony’s, Wattala and St. Peter’s registered victories in the Under-19 Division I Limited Overs tournament Tier ‘A’ and ‘B’ matches on Saturday.

Ahan Wickramasinghe scored unbeaten 92 runs to set the stage for Royal to record six runs victory over Gurukula in 31-overs a side encounter at Reid Avenue.

Wickramasinghe put on unbroken 110 runs stand for the fourth wicket with Kavindu Pathirathne as Royal amassed 210 runs in their allotted 31 overs.

In reply, Gurukula had their skipper Kemira Nayanatharu and Sajitha Chamod scoring quick fire knocks to take the match to the wire.

Wickramasinghe, who top scored with 92 runs for Royal is the leading scorer of the Tier ‘A’ tournament as he has accumulated over 200 runs in two matches.

Kodithuwakku’s 97 runs, inclusive of nine fours and five sixes, laid the foundation for Mahinda to reach a target of 231 runs with five overs to spare.

While half centuries by Hirantha Jayasinghe and Harindu Jayasekara helped St. Thomas’ Matara beat St. Anne’s by six wickets, Nipunaka Fonseka and Vinuda Liyanage scored half centuries in St. Peter’s 125 runs win over Dharmaraja.

Meanwhile, in traditional encounters St. Sebastian’s and St. Joseph’s earned first innings honours.

Results

Tier ‘A’

Royal win by six runs at Reid Avenue

Royal

210 for 3 in 31 overs (Uvindu Weerasekara 19, Ahan Wickramasinghe 92n.o., Kavindu Pathirathne 53n.o., Sadisha Rajapaksha 22)

Gurukula

204 for 8 in 31 overs (Neluka Heshan 28, Rashmika Mevan 33, Sithija Chamod 47, Kemira Nayanatharu 50; Sonal Amarasekara 2/42, Gishan Balasooriya 3/33)

St. Thomas’ beat St. Anne’s by six wickets at Kurunegala

St. Anne’s

155 all out in 47.1 overs (Risitha Perera 66, Thrimalsha Silva 21; Sachira Rashmika 4/16)

St. Thomas’

156 for 4 in 45.2 overs (Hirantha Jayasinghe 60n.o., Harindu Jayasekara 58)

Mahinda beat Thurstan by three wickets at Galle

Thurstan

230 all out in 50 overs (Dananja Silva 37, Bawantha Jayasinghe 71, Punthila Kumara 21, Lakmal Perera 19; Subanu Rajapaksha 3/34, Navod Paranavithana 3/36, Kushan Madusha 2/40)

Mahinda

231 for 7 in 44.5 overs (Kawshitha Kodithuwakku 97, Dhanuja Induwara 21, Sandew Induwara 27, Navod Paranavithana 19, Rashmika Madushanka 19; Upul Hettiarachchi 5/35)

St. Peter’s beat Dharmaraja by 125 runs at Bambalapitiya

St. Peter’s

265 for 7 in 50 overs (Shanuka Galagoda 24, Shanshay Gunathilaka 39, Nipunaka Fonseka 63, Lahiru Chethaka 35, Vinuda Liyanage 64n.o.; Sadeepa Rathnayaka 2/81, Upendra Warnakulasuriya 2/41)

Dharmaraja

140 for 8 in 50 overs (Pulindu Perera 61; Chamelker de Silva 3/15)

St. Anthony’s beat Devapathiraja by five wickets at Galle

Devapathiraja

207 all out in 49.1 overs ss(Jeewaka Shasheen 73, Sasanka Nirmal 23, Matheesha Saranga 19; Gihan Sathmika 2/14, Shan Aniketh 2/31)

St. Anthony’s

211 for 5 in 38.2 overs (Gihan Sathmika 50, Romesh Suranga 44, Avishka Tharindu 43n.o., Sadun Rexmotiar 29, Kaveesha Dulanjana 19; Chaminda Sandaruwan 4/42)

Traditional Matches

St. Joseph’s V Wesley at Campbell Park

St. Joseph’s

223 for 2 overnight 319 for 4 decl. in 80.3 overs (Shevon Daniel 164, Sheran Fonseka 73, Yesith Rupasinghe 55; Thenuka Perera 2/50) and 45 for 1 in 15.1 overs (Dinal Anuradha 26)

Wesley

156 all out in 66.5 overs (Sahil Dias 39, Anudith Wickramasinghe 23; Dunith Wellalage 6/56, Lahiru Amarasekara 2/46)

St. Sebastian’s V Richmond at Moratuwa

St. Sebastian’s

166 all out in 82 overs (Bihanga Mendis 31, Sukitha Prasanna 17, Sandesh Fernando 42; Amshi de Silva 2/49, Tharinda Nirmal 3/34, Nalaka Jayawardana 2/36) and 152 for 5 in 36.5 overs (Yashan Avishka 36, Sukitha Prasanna 62, Chakila Perera 20n.o.; Amshi de Silva 2/15, Kavindu Nirmana 2/16)

Richmond

8for no loss overnight 97 all out in 36.1overs (Bhanuka Manohara 24, Chehan Subasingha 23; Crishan Fernando 3/15, Kalana Sandeepa 3/21) and 71 for 1 in 28 overs (Bhanuka Manohara 29n.o., Thamindu Pradeeptha 26 n.o.)

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Daren Sammy issues plea as West Indies remain stuck in Kolkata hotel

Published

7 mins ago

2026/03/5

Priyan

The Dubai airport, among other airports in the Gulf region, were affected by the crisis in West Asia [Cricinfo]

As West Indies continue to remain stuck in Kolkata four days after being eliminated from the 2026 T20 World Cup, their head coach Daren Sammy has put out a post on X, saying “I just wanna go home”.

He followed it up with another post a little later, saying, “At least an update, tell us something. Today, tmw, next week. It’s been five days.”

West Indies are one of the teams stranded in India in the wake of the crisis in West Asia. ESPNcricinfo has learned that initially, the ICC had informed West Indies that attempts were being made for the squad to return home to the Caribbean via a charter flight to London. The plan, it is believed, was for West Indies to fly out of India mid-week, though no specific date was given. However, West Indies continue to remain in Kolkata where they lost to India in the final match of the Super Eight on March 1.

With the usual airspace corridors closed owing to the crisis, which began last weekend, the ICC has been confronted with a severe logistical challenge of arranging return flights for teams.

On Wednesday, though, there was good news for Zimbabwe, with the first batch of their squad members leaving for home from Delhi after the ICC reworked their travel arrangements.

Like West Indies, Zimbabwe played their last match at the T20 World Cup on March 1, losing to South Africa in Delhi. Zimbabwe were originally scheduled to depart on March 2, but that plan was cancelled.

There is no official word on the travel plans for the rest of their squad members.

“Zimbabwe Cricket confirms that the Zimbabwe senior men’s team participating in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 are on their way home from India after the International Cricket Council secured alternative travel arrangements following recent transit disruptions,” Zimbabwe Cricket said in a statement on Wednesday. “Due to flight availability and revised routing, the squad will return to Harare in batches.

“Zimbabwe’s original travel route was via Dubai on an Emirates flight but it had to be altered. It has been learnt that Zimbabwe are now travelling to Harare via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.”

South Africa were eliminated in the semi-final by New Zealand on Wednesday night, and will now wait to know their schedule for getting back home. In case England lose to India in the second semi-final on Thursday, their travel plans back will also have to be worked out.

[Cricinfo]

Latest News

India’s momentum meets Wankhede’s memory in big semifinal bout

Published

2 hours ago

2026/03/5

Priyan

India have a bunch of players who call the Wankhede Stadium 'home' during domestic cricket or the IPL [Cricbuzz]

A World Cup semifinal at the Wankhede Stadium has, historically, not been kind on India, the 2023 game against New Zealand aside. They’ve lost two of their three ICC knockout games at this venue, one of them to England in 1987, the very opponents awaiting them tonight. If there is any equilibrium to be found, it lies in the present: Harry Brook’s England have appeared just as fragile in this tournament as Suryakumar Yadav’s India, making this less a clash of invincibles and more a test of which side can steady itself under the heaviest lights.

India have leaned heavily on individual brilliance rather than collective cohesion to reach the last-four stage. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav (vs USA), Ishan Kishan (vs Namibia and Pakistan), Shivam Dube (vs Netherlands and South Africa), the Abhishek Sharma-Hardik Pandya combine (vs Zimbabwe), and most recently Sanju Samson (vs West Indies) have each stepped in to rescue the side at different moments. As a unit, however, India have not quite lived up to their ‘favourites’ tag.

India’s struggles have largely been down to some key players blowing hot and cold – Abhishek Sharma with the bat and Varun Chakaravarthy with the ball. Even skipper Suryakumar, barring the opening game, has not delivered in the manner expected of him. More gallingly, fielding – particularly catching – has been awful.

Jasprit Bumrah’s mastery has often come to India’s aid when the situations were seemingly slipping away. At times, Arshdeep Singh with his wide yorkers and Hardik Pandya with his slower bouncers have delivered in crunch moments, but their effectiveness with the ball has been rather sporadic. India will be hoping for a more collective output – shared heroics rather than individual brilliance – to administer the coup de grace against England and book the March 8 date at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

“That is something we haven’t really spoken about, about the perfect game. I think the quality of this team has been shown that, on the day somebody can put their hand up and put up a performance. And then hopefully now in the last two games, especially now tomorrow night, we can put that special performance in,” Morne Morkel, India bowling coach, said on the eve of the match.

“Unfortunately we all know how the game goes, that success is never guaranteed. But if we can give ourselves the best chance to go out and perform. That is what we strive for. And a big occasion tomorrow night here, semifinal, a great stadium to play a great game of cricket. So hopefully the boys can rock up tomorrow and just be calm and execute those skills.”

Thursday’s face-off may be India’s first designated knockout match for them, but they have already overcome two knockouts situations – against Zimbabwe and West Indies in the Super Eights. On both occasions, they raised the bar, momentum they’ll hope to carry into this high-stakes contest.

Another advantage for the hosts is their familiarity with the Wankhede Stadium, which serves as a home ground for several Indian players, starting with Suryakumar himself. Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Shivam Dube and Ishan Kishan have all represented Mumbai, Mumbai Indians, or both here.

If India have struggled into semifinals, England have been no showstoppers, although Harry Brook oozed extreme confidence on the eve of the contest. “We don’t feel like we’re ever out of a game so far. All it takes is one of the top seven to get a decent score or one of our five or six bowlers to have an amazing day out there. And all of a sudden you’re walking away with a victory and that’s what we’ve done so well so far,” the England skipper said.

England needed an extraordinary century from the skipper himself to get over the line against Pakistan and were on the ropes against New Zealand before being bailed out by a superb cameo from Rehan Ahmed. They won a low-scoring thriller against Sri Lanka and were nearly upset by Nepal before West Indies humbled them here in Mumbai, incidentally on the same pitch that will be used today.

The pitch carries a tinge of grass, but Morne Morkel anticipates a high-scoring contest. It was against this very opposition, at this very venue, that Abhishek Sharma blazed a stunning century a year ago. India will hope for a similar explosion from their opener, although this World Cup has already reinforced a familiar truth – ICC tournament games are a different beast altogether from bilateral contests.

Having comfortably beaten West Indies in their last outing, India are unlikely to tinker with their XI, despite murmurs advocating for Rinku Singh to replace Abhishek Sharma

England drafted in an extra spinner in Rehan Ahmed last time and he repaid the call with a decisive all-round performance against New Zealand last Friday. But that was at the R Premadasa Stadium, a surface that offered significant grip and turn. Conditions this time are unlikely to demand a second leg spinner, especially against a batting line-up stacked with left-handers.

England already possess three contrasting spin options – a leg spinner in Adil Rashid, a left-arm orthodox bowler in Liam Dawson, and an offspinner in Will Jacks, the latter particularly handy against an out-of-form Abhishek Sharma at the top and as a tactical match-up option through the line-up. All of which is set to open the door for the return of Jamie Overton.

India Probable XI: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy

England Probable XI:Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Harry Brook (c), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid

[Cricbuzz]

Sports

Wankhede braced for India–England semi-final blockbuster

Published

11 hours ago

2026/03/5

Sahan Weerasooriya

Wankhede that hosted the 2011 World Cup final between Sri Lanka and India will host this evening’s T20 World Cup semi-final between India and England.

The second T20 World Cup semi-final gets underway at the iconic Wankhede Stadium today (Thursday) with England and India locking horns for a place in the final. Both sides are two-time champions and boast well-balanced outfits, setting the stage for a contest where there is little to separate.

India in particular have had to roll up their sleeves and graft their way through the Super Eight stage. Having stumbled in their opener against South Africa, they were forced into two must win encounters inside a week and came through with flying colours. Those victories have hardened their resolve and ensured the defending champions arrive at the business end battle ready.

England, meanwhile, began the tournament on shaky ground. They were given a scare by Nepal and later tasted defeat against West Indies, leaving them with little room for error. But like seasoned campaigners, the Englishmen have steadied the ship and found their rhythm when it matters most.

One of England’s biggest strengths has been their ability to play spin with confidence in recent months. Their bowling attack too has evolved. No longer overly reliant on pace and swing, England have shown the nous to mix things up, calling on a variety of spin options when conditions demand it.

There is, however, one blot on their scorecard. In the last five games, their opener Jos Buttler has struggled for runs, repeatedly departing for single digit scores. But his glovework behind the stumps has been impeccable and with several of England’s batters firing on all cylinders, they can afford to carry one misfiring gun in the line-up.

Still nursing the wounds of a painful Ashes defeat, reaching the World Cup final would go a long way in restoring pride in the England camp and perhaps even saving a few careers that are currently on the line.

India, meanwhile, carry the weight of expectation that only cricket in this country can generate. As defending champions, they have the backing of a cricket mad nation and Wankhede will be a cauldron of noise when the two sides take the field.

For Sri Lankan fans, the venue also stirs bittersweet memories. It was here at Wankhede that Sri Lanka’s dreams were shattered in the 2011 World Cup final, when India lifted the trophy.

One concern for India ahead of the big clash will be their catching. They have been sloppy in the field, grassing several chances and recording a worrying catching percentage. Their overall strength has masked those lapses so far, but dropped catches at this stage of the tournament can come back to haunt even the strongest of sides.

Earlier, South Africa and New Zealand were set to square off in the first semi-final in Calcutta on Wednesday. The winners will head to Ahmedabad where they will await the victors of the Bombay clash for Sunday’s grand finale.

Rex Clementine in Bombay