Sports
Avishka delivers knockout punch to Dambulla Giants
By Roscoe Thattil from Suriyawewa
A stunning Avishka Fernando century delivered the knockout punch to Dambulla Giants, as they went down by 24 runs to the Jaffna Kings in Hambanthota on Tuesday.
Giants skipper Niroshan Dickwella played into the hands of the Kings when he opted to field first after winning the toss. Batting first and posting big totals has been a strength of Jaffna throughout the tournament.
A couple of early dropped catches by the Giants proved to be very costly as the opening duo of Fernando and Rahmanullah Gurbaz posted 122 for the first wicket. Gurbaz pulled up a hamstring just after reaching his half-century before he was eventually dismissed for 70 runs which came off just 40 balls.
Fernando wasn’t done though as he continued on his merry way before reaching his century off his 63rd ball as the Kings went past the magical 200-run mark. His knock included ten fours and four towering sixes as Jaffna finished on 210/4 in their twenty overs.
The Dambulla Giants’ bowlers had no answers to the onslaught by the Kings batters with Chamika Karunaratne conceding 53 off his four overs while only Nuwan Pradeep and Imran Tahir had economy rates of under ten.
The Giants had no option but to come out swinging from ball one and got to a brisk start as Niroshan Dickwella and Phil Salt put on 39 for the opening wicket in just over three overs but both of them were dismissed in the space of two overs as the Giants found it hard to keep up with the required run rate.
Maheesh Theekshana was the chief destroyer bowling out his quota of four overs in the first half of the innings returning impressive figures of 2/23. The lanky West Indian quick Jayden Seales’ pace and bounce were too hot to handle for the Giants middle order as he accounted for Sandun Weerakkody and Ramesh Mendis in quick succession.
The Dambulla Giants never really recovered from losing the top half of their batting and were eventually defeated by the all-round disciplined Jaffna Kings unit. Karunaratne though fought till the end with an entertaining half-century but could not prevent his team from going down by 24 runs.
The boys from up north will now meet the Galle Gladiators in the final of the LPL 2021 in Hambantota today (23). Interestingly Jaffna Kings have lost the three games they played against Galle Gladiators in the 2021edition. It will also be the repeat of the 2020 LPL final.
The BCB has said that they will rely on the Bangladesh government’s directive before finalising their tour to Pakistan later this month. Bangladesh were originally scheduled to play five T20Is there from May 25 to June 3, but the PSLs schedule was revised following cross-border tensions between Pakistan and India.
According to the revised fixtures, the PSL final will now be held on May 25, when Pakistan and Bangladesh were originally scheduled to play the first T20I.
ESPNcricinfo has learned that the PCB has sent a new schedule for the T20Is between Pakistan and Bangladesh, with the first match now slotted for May 27, and the last on June 5.
BCB’s media committee chairman Iftekhar Rahman said they will rely on information from government security agencies and the Bangladesh high commission in Islamabad to take the final decision.
“Once we receive official communication about the dates and venues [of the tour], we will forward it to the government,” Rahman said. “The BCB is not the decision-maker in this matter. If the government agencies and our embassy declare Pakistan safe for travel, only then will we proceed.
“In our previous meeting, we agreed that any such situation would be referred to the foreign and home ministries. Once we get clearance from all relevant bodies, we will finalise the tour. Security concerns were more significant in the past, but Pakistan has proven it can ensure safety. Still, given the current circumstances, we need to assess whether the situation across the country is stable before sending the team.”
Before playing Pakistan, Bangladesh are scheduled to play two T20Is against UAE in Sharjah on May 17 and 19. They were then supposed to fly to Lahore on May 21.
[Cricinfo]
Apna Perera won his third title of the 110th Colombo Championships as he partnered Dhilvan Herath to beat Dumindu Dilum and Chehan Fernando in the open men’s doubles final.
Apna and Dhilvan registered 6-2, 6-2 win in the final.
Apna, the open men’s singles champion, was also the winner of the mixed doubles which was played according to round robin method. In the mixed doubles Apna partnered Inuki Jayaweera.
Results
Men’s doubles semi-finals
Apna Perera and Dhilvan Herath beat Ashen Silva and Lithum Jayabandu 6-1, 6-2
Dumindu Dilum and Chehan Fernando beat Methika Wickramasinghe and Vichinthya Nilaweera 6-3, 2-6, 10-4.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) recently carried out a Fast Bowling Talent Search program in the Polonnaruwa District as part of its ongoing efforts to identify and nurture emerging cricketing talent across the country.
The program, held at the Royal College Ground, Polonnaruwa, attracted over 60 promising young players—both boys and girls—including school cricketers of the district. Each participant underwent skill assessments to evaluate their fast bowling potential.
Following the evaluations, 20 talented bowlers were selected for further development.
The selected players will now receive structured training under the guidance of Provincial coaches of Sri Lanka Cricket, with a focus on refining their techniques and enhancing their overall performance.
Those who continue to demonstrate consistent improvement will be given the opportunity to join SLC’s district squads, thereby becoming part of the official National Pathway Program.
This initiative is a part of SLC’s ‘Cricket Gamata’, program which aims to find talent from rural areas across Sri Lanka.
The talent assessments were conducted by Lasantha Lakmin, SLC Talent Scout for the North Central and North Western Provinces; Lakshitha Herath, North Central Provincial Women’s Coach; and Saman Senanayake, North Central Provincial Fast Bowling Coach.
The event was organized by the North Central Provincial Cricket Association under the guidance of Sri Lanka Cricket. It was managed by Krishan Anandakumar, Manager of the Center of Excellence, Dambulla.
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