Sports
Highest wicket-taker Wellalage, only SL player in the ICC Most Valuable team

Dunith Wellalage is the only Sri Lankan player named in the ICC Most Valuable team of the Under 19 World Cup after the Sri Lankan skipper finished as the tournament’s highest wicket-taker.
Despite taking only a single wicket in the in his last two matches, Wellalage finished as the Under 19 World Cup’s highest wicket taker. His closest rival in that list was England’s Joshua Boyden who finished with just 15 wickets after taking a couple of wickets in the final against India.
Pakistan’s Awais Ali too finished with 15 wickets, while Bangladesh’s Ripon Mondol finished the tournament as the fourth highest wicket taker (14). All top four bowlers in that list are selected in the 12-strong line up as champions India lead the way with three players included.
The ICC announced the Upstox Most Valuable Team of the Tournament yesterday with Yash Dhull, the captain of the victorious team chosen to skipper a line-up of future stars.
Overall, eight nations are represented in the team.
Pace is provided by the likes of Josh Boyden, Awais Ali and Ripon Mondol.
All-rounders Tom Prest and Dunith Wellalage provide the spin options alongside Vicky Ostwal.
Wellalage had an aggregate of 264 runs from the tournament which included a century. In the list if highest scorers Wellalage’s 264 runs is ranked seventh.
Wellalage captained Sri Lanka to the sixth place, their best result in three editions, and he was the only bowler to take two fivefers, doing so against Scotland and Australia.
South Africa’s Dewald Brevis was announced as the Player of the Tournament for the ICC Under 19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2022 in West Indies for his record-breaking run haul.
The side was pulled together by a selection panel including commentators Samuel Badree, Natalie Germanos, ICC Match Referee Graeme Labrooy and journalist Sandipan Banerjee.
Yash Dhull, who captained India to the title at the ICC Under 19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2022, takes up his place at number four having hit 229 runs in the competition, including one century, and his deployment of his bowlers was crucial in leading his side to overall victory in the tournament.
His opposite number in the final, England’s Tom Prest, sits one place below them in the batting order of the Upstox Most Valuable Team of the Tournament having hit 292 runs in six games, the third most of the competition.
Dewald Brevis, a right-handed batter, received the accolade of Player of the Tournament after crashing 506 runs across six matches to become only the second player to hit over 500 runs at an Under-19 Men’s Cricket World Cup.
In doing so, the 18-year-old passed Indian legend Shikhar Dhawan’s total for the most runs in a single tournament, hitting one more run than Dhawan managed in 2004.
Brevis also took seven wickets in the competition returning best figures of 2-18 against Uganda during the group stages.
Haseebullah Khan from Pakistan is named as one of the openers after scoring 380 runs across the U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup, his high score of 136 one of two centuries he made in the tournament, Brevis was the only other batter to make two centuries.
Haseebullah is also selected as the wicketkeeper having taken eight catches and two stumpings, the fourth best return of the competition.
His opening partner is Australia’s Teague Wyllie who tied with Angkrish Raghuvanshi for 278 runs, the joint fourth-most of the tournament.
Wyllie hit 39 fours, the second most, including eight in his 101 not out against Scotland, one of three fifty-plus scores in the tournament.
Raj Bawa is another all-rounder who has impressed throughout the World Cup, hitting a tournament-high 162 not out against Uganda, on his way to 252 runs for the competition.
Bawa was Player of the Match in the final against England taking five for 31 to put India in a strong position and take his wicket tally to nine.
Just below him in the line-up is teammate Vicky Ostwal who took 12 wickets across his six matches with his left-arm orthodox including five for 28 against South Africa.
Bangladesh’s representative in the team comes in the form of right-arm seamer Ripon Mondol, who took wickets in all but one of Bangladesh’s games.
And, against Canada and India he took four-fers to end the tournament on 14 wickets, the joint third-highest of the 2022 competition.
The other bowler who sits above him in the wicket standings is Awais Ali of Pakistan who claimed 15 wickets in his six matches, including six for 56, one of only two six-fers in the tournament.
The right-arm medium pacer opened up the tournament with those six wickets against Zimbabwe and was consistent as Pakistan finished in the top five for the fifth consecutive competition.
England’s Josh Boyden earns his place for his extremely economical bowling, chalking up 15 wickets in the tournament with an economy of 3.21 and an average of 9.86, the best in the tournament for any bowler with seven wickets or more.
The final name on the team sheet is Afghanistan’s Noor Ahmad. The all-rounder took wickets in every World Cup game on his way to 10 wickets, with best figures of two for 18 against Papua New Guinea.
With the bat, Ahmad made three scores over 24 to provide useful runs in the lower order as Afghanistan finished fourth, their joint-highest finish at an ICC Under 19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2022.
The team of the ICC U19 Men’s Cricket World Cup 2022 (in batting order) is:
Haseebullah Khan (WK, Pakistan)
Teague Wyllie (Australia)
Dewald Brevis (South Africa)
Yash Dhull (Captain, India)
Tom Prest (England)
Dunith Wellalage (Sri Lanka)
Raj Bawa (India)
Vicky Ostwal (India)
Ripon Mondol (Bangladesh)
Awais Ali (Pakistan)
Josh Boyden (England)
Noor Ahmad (Afghanistan)
Sports
Sri Lanka to host India, Philippines, Maldives at Relay Championships in April

Sri Lanka Athletics has invited India, the Philippines and the Maldives for next month’s Relay Championships conducted by Sri Lanka Schools Athletics Association in a bid to provide the men’s 4×400 metres relay quartet with a chance to reach qualifying standards for the World Relays.
Currently Sri Lanka men’s 4×400 metres relay team is within the required ranking position to compete at the prestigious World Relays taking place in Guangzhou, China. The 3:04.48 seconds finish to win the gold medal of the men’s 4×400 metres at the Asian Relays in May last year has placed Sri Lanka in the 31st position in the ‘Road to Guangzhou’ rankings.
But with many competitions coming up within the next couple of months Sri Lanka Athletics wants to leave no stone unturned in their quest to keep the ranking position within the qualifying range.
The teams in the first 32 positions according to the times produced within the qualifying period (January 1, 2024 to April 13, 2025) become eligible for the World Relays taking place on May 10 and 11 in Guangzhou.
Sri Lanka’s chances of improving the current standings (31st) at this week’s World Indoor Championship in China are minimal as Olympian Aruna Dharshana, who is the fastest of the current crop of athletes will not be available for the event.
Dharshana is currently training and competing in Australia. He is looking forward to reach qualifying standards or reach the required ranking position for World Championships in the 400 metres.
The World Athletics has set a tough standard of 44.85 seconds for the men’s 400 metres. While only 17 are selected through direct qualifying standards, 31 athletes are selected through rankings for the 400 metres. Dharshana is yet yo enter rankings to be eligible for the World Championships.
Sri Lanka Athletics will field Dharshana, Kalinga Kumarage, S.B.R. Madushan and Sadew Rajakaruna for the relay event in April.
by Reemus Fernando
Sports
Air Force, Navy win Defence Services beach volleyball titles

Defence Services Beach Volleyball Championship 2025 was held from March 12 to 14 at the SLAF beach volleyball courts, Katunayake. During the finals SLAF Men’s team defeated SL Army (2-0) while the SL Navy Women’s team defeated SLAF Women’s team (2-0). Incidentally is the seventh Defence Services Beach Volleyball title won by the SLAF Men’s Team.
Base Commander SLAF Base Katunayake AVM Dhammika Dias graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Chairman of SLAF Volleyball, Group Captain Milinda Mendis, Senior Officers from SL Army and Navy were also present for the finals.
Sports
Entries open for Summer Season Badminton Championship 2025

The Central Province Badminton Association (CPBA) is now accepting entries for one of Sri Lanka’s most anticipated badminton competitions, the Summer Season All-Island Open Championships 2025, which will be staged at the Municipal Council Indoor Stadium in Nuwara Eliya from April 21 to 27.
The highly followed seven-day annual badminton tournament, held during the Nuwara Eliya April Holiday Season, is known to attract Sri Lanka’s top ranked shuttlers. The National Ranking Level 1 competition, sanctioned by Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB), is one of the key sporting attractions of Nuwara Eliya during April every year, known to generate increasing public interest.
The championship will feature a wide range of events from Under-11 to Under-19 in the Junior category and Over-30 to Over-70 in the Senior category, with an addition of three Combined Age segment of 100+. The main attraction of the competition will be the Open events comprising Men’s and Women’s Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles, with an addition of a Plate Championship for the losers in Men’s and Women’s Singles.
The opening ceremony will take place on April 21st at 9:00am, followed by the preliminary rounds, leading up to the climax on April 26 with the quarter-finals and semi-finals. The excitement will continue on April 27 with the highly anticipated semi-finals and final matches, followed by the Closing Ceremony to mark the culmination of this championship.
The main draw seeding will be determined based on SLB Ranking as of April 13, followed by the draw on April 16 at 11:00am at No.2, Cambridge Terrace, Colombo 7. Entries will close on April 10 at noon. Entries can be submitted online or by contacting Sadeesha Adithya on 0761759017 and further details of the tournament are available in the prospectus published in the SLB website.
A total prize money of Rs.750,000 for all events based on the number of entries will be on offer, in addition to trophies, medals and certificates guaranteed for winners, runners-up and semi-finalists of each event of the tournament. Junior winners will receive appropriate gifts instead of prize money, according to a decision taken by the tournament organisers. The tournament is sponsored by Mobil, Li Ning, McFoil, 3M and GAC.
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