Sports

Bashan, Kaveen take day’s top honours

Published

4 years ago

2022/01/25

Sahan Weerasooriya

Under 17 Division I Cricket

by Reemus Fernando

St. Aloysius’ College, Galle skipper Bashan de Silva, Maris Stella College batsman Kaveen Fernando and Sri Devananda College, Ambalangoda spinner Lahiru Kavinda produced notable performances as their teams recorded impressive victories in the Inter School Under 17 Division I tournament matches played on Monday.

Bashana produced the day’s best all-round performance taking five wickets with his off spin to (9-1-33-5) contain Mahinda to 205 runs. Later he anchored the batting line up with an unbeaten 67 runs (in 93 balls, 6x4s) to pull off a nerve tingling one wicket win at Galle International Stadium.

At Godigamuwa, Kaveen Fernando top scored with 108 runs in 95 balls (14x4s, 3x6s) for Maris Stella to post 326 runs, the highest team score of the day. In reply Suban Sanuka also scored a century but lack of support from the rest of the batsmen saw Galahitiyawa Central losing by 73 runs.

Spinner Lahiru Kavinda returned impressive figures 5.5-1-18-5 to set the stage for Sri Devananda to record 72 runs win over Devapathiraja.

Quick fire half centuries by Viduneth Wilson (59 in 42 balls, 10 fours and a six) and Kojitha Himsara (79 in 47 balls, seven fours and five sixes) powered St. Benedict’s to a crushing nine wicket win over Henegama Central as the home team cruised to 161 runs in 17 overs.

While Royal had Bulan Weeratunga coming up with all-round performances to beat Isipatana at BRC ground, S. Thomas’ romped to massive 173 runs victory over St. John’s, Panadura.

Meanwhile Sahan Divyanjana scored an unbeaten century for Taxila to set the stage for a 143 run victory over Dharmapala.

Results

Maris Stella beat Galahitiyawa Central by 73 runs at Godigamuwa

Scores:

Maris Stella

326 for 7 in 49 overs (Sadew Rathnayake 47, Shane Wijesinghe 58, Kaveen Fernando 108, Rahumath Deen 49; Suban Sanuka 3/71, Pamoth Laksen 2/47)

Galahitiyawa Central

253 all out in 47.4 overs (Pramoth Laksen 31, Suban Sanuka 109, Eshan Sayuranga 30; Mineth Fernando 3/30, Navindu Wijesuriya 3/60)

St. Aloysius’ beat Mahinda

by one wicket at Galle

Scores:

Mahinda

205 for 9 in 50 overs (Dhanuja Induwara 25, Dinura Kalupahana 45, Pramesh Madubashana 43; Bashana de Silva 5/33, Vishwa Indunil 2/38)

St. Aloysius’

206 for 9 in 49.2 overs (Dilshan Kavinda 28, Maneth Yeran 21, Bashana de Silva 67n.o., Dineth Nimsara 31; Kaveen Rukshan 2/36, Tharusha Dilshan 2/31)

Royal beat Isipatana by 44 runs at BRC

Scores:

Royal

211 for 9 in 50 overs (Sineth Jayawardana 26, Hiruna Ranawaka 28, Venusha Akash 60, Bulan Weeratunga 29, Sandesh Ramanayake 24; Kevin Samuel 2/40, Buddhika Rathnayake 3/36)

Isipatana

167 all out in 43.1 overs (Tharusha Silva 30, Naveen Kanishka 28, Yasith Kalupahana 25, Yuneth Vindiya 38; Bulan Weeratunga 3/41, Ovina Ambanpola 3/17)

S. Thomas’ beat St. John’s by 173 runs at Panadura

Scores:

S. Thomas’

241 for 9 in 50 overs (Senadhi Bulankulame 56, Thisen Ehaliyagoda54, Mahith Perera 29, Yumal Bollegala 34, Ashen Perera 26n.o.; Nimesh Ariyatunga 3/55, Ravindu Karunarathne 3/46)

St. John’s

68 all out in 23.3 overs (Akash Fernando 3/30, Nathan Caldera 5/19, Rajindu Tilakaratne 2/05)

St. Benedict’s beat Henegama Central by nine wickets at Kotahena

Scores:

Henegama

157 all out in 46.2 overs (Mandeepa Nimsara 51, Mithila Vishwajith 31; Hasanga Nanayakkara 2/29, Shenel Samarathunga 2/37, Naviru Adithya 3/26)

St. Benedict’s

161 for 1 in 16.4 overs (Viduneth Wilson 59, Kojitha Himsara 79n.o.)

Taxila beat Dharmapala by 143 runs

Scores:

Taxila

265 for7 in 50 overs (Sahan Divyanjana 122n.o, Charith Harshana 22, Chirantha Dewruwan 36n.o.; Sithum Chamalka 2/30)

Dharmapala

122 all out in 40.5 overs (Praveen Kumarapperuma 35, Sahan Lithmina 34; Tharuka Senitha 4/19, Chirantha Dewruwan 3/15)

Sri Devananda beat Devapathiraja by 72 runs at Ratgama

Scores:

Sri Devananda

183 all out in 47.4 overs (Mayura Malshan 51, Rasindu Kumara 30, Mithila Achinthaka 37; Irushka Thimira 4/25)

Devapathiraja

111 all out in 31.5 overs (Sandaru Theekshana 48; Wanith de Silva 2/17, Lahiru Kavinda 5/18)

St. Mary’s beat Vidyartha by

one wicket at Kegalle

Scores:

Vidyartha

112 all out in 28.4 overs (Bashitha Keshan 33; Lakmal Wimalarathna 2/24, Madushan K Arachchi 3/06, Sampath Madushanka 2/27, Themiya Nilakshan 2/05)

St. Mary’s

115 for 9 in 40.2 overs (Madushan K Arachchi 33; Anishka Gunaratne 5/23, Gihan Bandara 2/20)

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Latest News

England elect to field first at Wankhede

Published

4 hours ago

2026/03/5

Priyan

England won the toss and chose to field first in the 2nd semi-final of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup

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

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

Latest News

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

Published

6 hours 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

8 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]