Sports

Dasuni’s triumph a massive victory for underdogs

Published

4 months ago

2025/10/30

Dasuni Kaushalya and her coach Asanka Rathnayake were felicitated by her school St. Andrew's Balika, Nawalapitiya and the Urban Council of Nawalapitiya.

There were many outstanding performances by Sri Lankan athletes at the just concluded South Asian Athletics Championship in Ranchi India. Many consider Shafiya Yamick’s hattrick of golds on top of every other accomplishment. Undoubtedly, it was a remarkable achievement.

‎There were also other feats that went unnoticed as the spotlight fell mainly on multiple medal winners. Dasuni Kaushalya’s gold winning feat in the women’s 400 metres hurdles was one such.

‎More than the gold, it is the outstanding personal best of 58.66 seconds that delights analysts. It is an average performance compared to top world performances of the likes of Famke Bol or Sydney Mclaughen but looking back at the little progress the discipline has made during the past decade, Kaushalya merits accolades for a job well done.

‎Except Olympian Christine Merrill and former champion Madushani Kaushalya, ‎no other Sri Lankan athlete had run that fast over the ten hurdles in history.

‎As highlighted in these columns in the run up to the championship, Kaushalya was slowly establishing herself as an emerging contender to challenge the US based hurdler Christine Merrill’s national record one day.

‎The Sri Lanka Air Force athlete and her coach Asanka Rathnayake had to beat many odds to prove this fact. And they are the happiest of all now as their hard work paid off in Ranchi.

‎Rathnayake belives that his charge could be trained to achieve sub 58 or 57 seconds within a year provided that she gets fast tracks to train.

‎”I believe that she could be trained to clock 57.5 or 57.3 or probably sub 57 if she could train on fast tracks,” Rathnayake told ‘The Island’ after attending a felicitation ceremony organised by Kaushalya’s school St. Andrew’s Balika, Nawalapitiya and the Urban Council of Nawalapitiya.

‎”This is a technical event. You need to train and compete on fast synthetic tracks to produce fast feats,” said Rathnayake.

‎As the table displays all fast performances by national record holder Christine Merrill were achieved on venues in the US or elsewhere. Even former champion Madushani had achieved her best feat overseas.

‎”I firmly believe that she could feature in an Asian Games final at least if she could train on proper tracks,” said Rathnayake.

‎The coach and athlete have done their part now it is incumbent upon authorities to do the rest.

‎‎

Dasuni Kaushalya with her medal.

Best Performances of Woman’s 400m hurdles by year from 2008

2008 Christine Merrill LA USA 59.62

2009 Christine Merrill San Angelo USA 58.59

2010 Christine Merrill USA 58.04

2011 Christine Merrill Kobe July 56.83

2012 Christine Merrill London Aug 57.15

2013 Christine Merrill USA VA June 56.45

2014 Christine Merrill US 58.25

2015 Christine Merrill Tex US 58.36

2016 Kaushalya Madushani Guwahati 59.87

2017 DGND Wickramasinghe 60.33

2018 Kaushalya Madushani 59.68

2019 Kaushalya Madushani 58.16

2020 GAS Dulani 62.90

2021 Kaushalya Madushani 59.47

2022 Kaushalya Madushani 58.73

2022 Dasuni Kaushalya 62.95

2023 Dasuni Kaushalya 60.98

2024 Dasuni Kaushalya 59.53

2025 Dasuni Kaushalya 59.15

2025 Dasuni Kauahalya 58.66

by Reemus Fernando

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Zadran, Nabi star as Afghanistan bow out with a big win

Published

32 mins ago

2026/02/20

Priyan

Ibrahim Zadran smashed an unbeaten 95 in his team's win over Canada [Cricbuzz]

Having reached the semifinals of the previous edition, Afghanistan will have harboured loftier ambitions, and a group stage exit from the 2026 T20 World Cup will undoubtedly sting. There is some consolation, however: Jonathan Trott ends his tenure as Afghanistan coach with two wins on the bounce, an 82-run demolition of Canada at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai rounding out a campaign that will ultimately be defined by the ‘what ifs’ of that afternoon in Ahmedabad against South Africa.

Against Canada, though, Afghanistan were ruthlessly professional. The man who set the tone was Ibrahim Zadran, who stroked an unbeaten 95 to simultaneously hold the highest individual score by an Afghan batter across all three ICC white-ball tournaments viz. the ODI World Cup, the Champions Trophy, and now the T20 World Cup. His blazing 56-ball knock powered Afghanistan to 200/4 – their highest total in T20 World Cup history – a score that always seemed beyond Canada’s reach before it was rubber-stamped by Mohammad Nabi’s 4 for 7 in what might just be the veteran 41-year-old’s last game in this competition.

Canada asked their opposition to take first strike and themselves took until the final over of the PowerPlay to strike. Rahmanullah Gurbaz was dropped at the wicket by Shreyas Movva off Dilon Heyliger’s bowling in the second over. Gurbaz punished the reprieve, racing to 30 off 20 balls before Jaskaran Singh had him slashing to deep point in the sixth over. Three balls later, Gulbadin Naib was trapped in front and Jaskaran had the on-field not-out decision overturned on review, and Afghanistan were suddenly 49 for 2.

Zadran held firm. He found an ideal foil in Sediqullah Atal, and the pair put on 95 runs for the third wicket, a partnership that steadily, then emphatically, wrested control. Atal was busy and inventive, playing his shots freely on both sides of the wicket, before being caught at long-on off Jaskaran for 44 (32). By then, Afghanistan were 144 for 3 with five overs remaining and Zadran fully into his stride. Azmatullah Omarzai contributed a breezy 13 off 7 before holing out to long-on, but it mattered little as Afghanistan plundered 69 off the final five overs, crossing 200 off the last ball with Zadran stranded agonisingly five runs short of a deserved century. In all, he found the ropes seven times and cleared it five times.

The chase never threatened to be competitive. Mujeeb Ur Rahman struck in the second over, rocking Dilpreet Bajwa’s leg stump for 13 after the Canadian captain had launched two early sixes, and the game was effectively settled when Azmatullah Omarzai had the veteran Navneet Dhaliwal caught at backward point for a duck in the fourth over. Dhaliwal, 37 years old and playing his final international innings, had received a guard of honour alongside Ravinderpal Singh before the match. A warm embrace from Rashid Khan at the boundary as he walked off was a fitting send-off for Canada’s leading T20I run-scorer.

Yuvraj Samra, who had dazzled with a century against New Zealand at this very ground two nights ago, managed only 17 before Nabi got one to turn sharply and find a leading edge to point. Nabi produced a vintage spell that included Kirton skying to long-on, Harsh Thaker top-edging a sweep to short fine leg after a dogged 30, and Heyliger perishing in the deep.

Nabi could have had a fifth, too, but Gurbaz shelled a catch even with no other fielder challenging for it, as had been the case when Gurbaz and Abdullah Ahmadzai nearly ran into each other for Heyliger’s catch. Rashid Khan took care of Movva and Bin Zafar, the latter bowled through the gate attempting an airy mow. Canada finished at 118 for 8 in a just reflection of the chasm between the two sides.

Brief scores:
Afghanistan 200/4 in 20 overs (Rahmanulah Gurbaz 30, Ibrahim Zadran 95*, Sediqullah Atal 44, Azmatullah Omarzai 13; Dillon Heyliger 1-41,Jaskaran Singh 3-52) beat Canada 118/8 in 20 overs (Yuraj Sharma 17, Dilpreet Bajwa 13, Harsh Thaker 30, Nicholas Kirton 10, Saad Bin Zafar 28; Mujeeb Ur Rahman 1-23, Azmatullah Omarzai 1-18, Mohammad Nabi 4-07, Rashid Khan 2-19) by 82 runs.

[Cricbuzz]

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Zimbabwe stun Sri Lanka to enter Super Eight unbeaten

Published

9 hours ago

2026/02/19

Priyan

Sikandar Raza counterattacked to release the pressure [Cricinfo]

One time is a shock. Two times, and the second to beat hosts Sri Lanka at their own game, is Zimbabwe. Led by their canny bowling, Zimbabwe pulled Sri Lanka back from a flying start to keep them to 178 on a sluggish Premadasa track. Their opener Brian Benett, quickest scorer in their history, dropped anchor, stayed unbeaten like his team, and Sikandar Raza, Ryan Burl and Tadiwanashe Marumani did all the damage from the other end to seal their second-highest successful T20I chase.

Sri Lanka’s innings had three neat divisions: first 29 balls for 54 for 0, next 72 for 82 for 4 and then a finishing kick of 42 for 3 off the last 19 balls. Zimbabwe went Bennett and non-Bennett. Bennett scored 63 off 48; the other three combined for 102 off 64 balls. Raza was the decisive hand: 45 off 26 after the asking rate had gone past 11.

Brief scores:
Zimbabwe 182 for 4 in 19.3 overs (Brian Bennett 63*, Tadiwanashe Marumani 34, Ryan Burl 23, Sikandar Raza 45; Dasun Shanaka 1-26, Dushan Hemantha 2-36, Dunith Wellalage 1-27) beat Sri Lanka 178 for 7 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 62, Kusal Perera 22, Kusal Mendis 14, Pavan Rathnayake 44, Dunith Wellalage 15*; Blessing Muzarabani 2-38, Graeme Cremer 2-27, Brad Evans 2-35) by six wickets

[Cricinfo]

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Hope’s 75, Forde and Joseph’s wickets help West Indies go into playoffs unconquered

Published

13 hours ago

2026/02/19

Priyan

Shai Hope brought up a 28-ball half-century [Cricinfo]

West Indies headed into the Super Eight of the T20 World Cup unbeaten after successfully defending 165 against Italy at Eden Gardens on Thursday. Spinners Chrishan Kalugamage and Ben Manenti impressed with the ball, and were backed up by some sharp fielding, but the batters couldn’t get the Italian job done.

While Italy exited their maiden World Cup with a win against Nepal and many memories to cherish, West Indies sealed their fourth successive win at the venue where they will face India in their final Super Eight fixture on March 1.

Italy may have sensed an opportunity for another win when they stifled West Indies’ power-packed middle order, but Marrhew Forde’s twin strikes in the powerplay decisively tilted the game in West Indies’ favour. Bowling three overs on the bounce, Forde dismissed both Justin Mosca and No. 3 Syed Naqvi, helping West Indies restrict Italy to 37 for 3 in six overs. Shamar Joseph then bagged four wickets to go with his four catches as Italy were bowled out for 123.

The win was set up by Shai Hope, who hit back-to-back half-centuries and dominated the early exchanges with an array of off-side drives. West Indies lost steam after Hope departed for 75 off 46 balls, but they regained it through their bowlers.

After West Indies were asked to bat first, they hit seven boundaries in the powerplay, and Hope was responsible for all of those. By the eighth over, the West Indies captain had zoomed to a 28-ball half-century. The first boundary by a West Indies player not named “Shai Hope” came in the tenth over when Roston Chase backed away and lifted left-arm spinner JJ Smuts over extra-cover.

Hope peppered the off side, scoring 46 of his 75 runs in that region. Anything that was remotely full and outside off was crashed in the arc between mid-off and point. When Italy dragged their lengths back, Hope was ready for it as well. Like when left-arm seamer Ali Hasan banged one into his upper body, Hope swatted him away over square leg for six in the fourth over. Hope was particularly severe on right-arm fast bowler Thomas Draca, taking him for 20 off nine balls.

Italy finally stopped him in the 16th over when legspinner Kalugagame bowled him with a tossed-up wrong’un.

Brief scores:
West Indies 165 for 6 in 20 overs (Shai Hope 75, Roston Chase 24, Sherfane Rutherford 24*, Matthew Forde 16*; Ali Hasan 1-24, Thomas Draca 1-22, Chrishan Kalugamage 2-25, Ben Manenti 2-37) beat Italy 123 in 18 overs (Anthony Mosca 19, JJ Smuts 24, Ben Manenti 26, Grant Stewart 12; Akeal Hosein 1-25, Shamar Joseph 4-30, Matthew Forde 3-19, Gudakesh Motie 2-24) by 42 runs

[Cricinfo]