Sports

Inaugural Test, Arjuna’s memoirs

Published

4 years ago

2022/02/20

Sahan Weerasooriya

Arjuna Ranatunga bats during the first day of Sri Lanka’s inaugural Test

by Rex Clementine

When the England cricket team landed in Colombo in February 1982 for Sri Lanka’s maiden Test match, Ian Botham was their biggest star. Just six months prior to that, Botham had become the cynosure of all eyes when he played a couple of stunning knocks to secure the Ashes as England snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. So much so, the 1981 Ashes is known as ‘Botham’s Ashes’. This week marks the 40th anniversary of Sri Lanka’s inaugural Test match and Arjuna Ranatunga recalled with us memories of the nation’s greatest moment in sports since Duncan White’s Olympic medal.

“The first ball I remember, I attempted to hook. I was late on the shot and in no time it was in the wicketkeeper’s gloves. Botham was the big star, but Bob Willis was really quick. I was telling myself I had never faced anything quick like this before. You start even wondering whether you are good to compete at this level,” Ranatunga recalled.

Fair enough. After all, Arjuna was a schoolboy. He was 18. It must have been quite a thing to walk in to bat when your side is 34 for four. All the big boys, Roy Dias, Duleep Mendis, Sidath Wettimuny and skipper Bandula Warnapura back in the pavilion.

“I think I was lucky to play the first Test. What actually happened was the team was searching for a left-handed batsman as England had Derek Underwood (left-arm orthodox). We didn’t have many lefties. So I got a break,” Arjuna said.

“By nature, I am a fighter. I had a lot of respect for guys like Willis and Botham, but then Mr. Lionel Mendis had given me one good advice when I was 11-years-old. That was, no matter how good a bowler is don’t forget that you have to face only one ball from him at a time.”

“Coming back to the game, Ranjan Madugalle is one of the sharpest cricket brains I have seen. I would say, he is the best captain Sri Lanka has produced. He told me, let’s just pick up the singles, keep the scoreboard moving and then we will reassess. He reminded me not to be overawed by the occasion. Obviously, we had never experienced anything like that before. So we just took it ball by ball. Once we spent time in the middle, it got easier and we cashed in,” Ranatunga added.

Ranatunga became the first Sri Lankan to score a Test half-century and Madugalle soon followed as the pair added 99 runs for the fifth wicket.

“There was this misconception that there was a battle for the final slot between late Anura Ranasinghe and myself. But the truth is that it was a toss up between Lalith Kaluperuma and Anura. It was a great atmosphere to be around that team. These were guys who were several years my seniors. D.S. de Silva was I think 40 whereas I was 18. We had a caring skipper in Bandula Waranpura. He was so protective of me. He called me ‘podi eka’ (small fellow) while Roy Dias called me ‘chuti’ (little one). They were fond of me and they still call me that. During the first Test match, when they were socializing, they wouldn’t even let me come near the table. I didn’t like it initially but later I realized they were protecting me.”

“It was a brilliant Test match and we showed to the world that our cricket was very strong. But we lacked experience. That’s what happened on day four. We had done so well in the first three days but on day four in half an hour we lost some seven wickets and ended up gifting the game to England. But it was a massive learning experience.

The atmosphere in 1980s helped Arjuna to grow into the leader he is. “One good thing in our cricket was that we had some superb gentlemen around. We had Mr. Gamini Dissanayake as President of the Board. Then Mr. J.R. Jayewardene was the President of SSC while Mr. Lalith Atulathmudali was the President of NCC. These gents may have not played big cricket, but they were good administrators. They were surrounded by brilliant cricket brains and despite their political stature, they were willing to listen to people who knew cricket. There was so much to learn from them.”

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Sports

Royal to meet St. Joseph’s, St. Peter’s eliminate Cambrians

Published

2 hours ago

2026/07/25

Thilina Walpola

Under 17 Division I Cricket

by Reemus Fernando

A combined bowling effort helped St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya beat Prince of Wales College Moratuwa by 55 runs and reach the pre-quarter finals of the Under 17 Division I cricket tournament on Friday.

‎Of all the knockout stage matches played on Friday, the encounter between the Petes and the Cambrians was the match that lasted the longest distance as the home team found batting resistance from number nine batsman.

‎The Cambrians foughtback after slipping to 59 for seven, on the back of a fighting 64 from Kaveesha Kithmina to bow down gracefully.

‎Batting first, St. Peter’s posted 230 for nine thanks to 76 off 113 balls by Sashidu Silva and a brisk 61 from 49 deliveries by Menura Dissanayake.Sandeepa Dananjaya was the pick of the Prince of Wales bowlers with an impressive five-wicket haul for 33 runs.

‎Most of the other knockout matches were one sided contests.

‎Royal College Colombo bundled out Wariyapola Sri Sumangala College, Kandy for a mere 44 runs to record a crushing 269 runs win and secure a pre-quarter final berth against St. Joseph’s College Darley Road.

‎Gagan Gamage (7-1-16-5) and Mahiru Kodituwakku (7-2-18-4) used the home advantage to good effect as they shared nine wickets between them to rattle the opposition within 18 overs. Batting first the Reid Avenue team amassed 313 runs for five wickets with Savain Gamage (53), Dushen Udawela (50) and Manuth Dasanayake (76) scoring half centuries.

‎Maris Stella College, Negombo, Galahitiyawa Central and St. Aloysius’ College, Galle were the other teams to enter the pre-quarter final stage on Friday.

‎St. Aloysius’ College, Galle booked a pre-quarter final berth against St. Sebastian’s College Moratuwa with a crushing seven-wicket victory over Ananda Sastralaya, Kotte.

‎Ananda Sastralaya struggled throughout their innings and were bundled out for 65 runs. Chenuka Dodangoda with a run a ball 27 was the only batsman to make a notable contribution.

‎St. Aloysius’ bowlers shared honours bowling tight spells. Hasitha Dasun produced the standout performance taking four wickets for two runs, while Manindu Pabasara supported well picking up two for seven. Yenul Nethsuka, Chethana Kularathna and Sanuda Imaya picked up a wicket each.

‎In reply, St. Aloysius made light work of the modest target, reaching 67 for 3 in just 9.4 overs. Gimhan Hansaka struck an aggressive 33 off 25 balls with seven fours to lay the foundation for victory.

‎Kavinga Dabare claimed all three wickets for Ananda Sastralaya, finishing with 3 for 9, but his effort could not prevent St. Aloysius’ from sealing the pre-quarter final berth.

‎In the other matches, Maris Stella College, Negombo beat Royal Central Polonnaruwa by five wickets and Galahitiyawa Central beat Taxila Central by six wickets.

Sports

Galle Gallants back to winning ways

Published

2 hours ago

2026/07/25

Thilina Walpola

Sahan Arachchige starred for Galle Gallants

Galle Gallants got back to the winning track after their first loss against Dambulla Sixers on 22 July to make it three wins out of four games as they outclassed Jaffna Kings by 60 runs on Thursday at the Rangiri International Stadium in Dambulla.

After all the five teams have played four games each, Galle Gallants sit atop with six points, while Kaps, Sixers and Kings have four points each. Royals have two points only.

After being asked to bat first, Gallants lost Sam Harper and Charith Asalanka early with 16 runs on the board in three overs. At this point, Chris Lynn and Chamika Karunaratne put on 48 runs with the former dominating the stand as he ended up with a 22-ball 46 before departing.

Gallants slipped to 110-6 in 14.2 overs before their top-scorer Sahan Arachchige and Mohammad Nawaz arrested the collapse with a game-changing 68-run stand off 30 balls. Arachchige hit four fours and three sixes in his 36-ball 63, while Nawaz hit two sixes and as many fours in his 27 off 16 balls.

Vijayakanth Viyaskanth hit a six off the two balls he faced as Gallants posted a strong 193-8 in 20 overs. Dilshan Madushanka and Lizaad Williams picked up two wickets each. Shakib Al Hasan, Dunith Wellalage and Mohammad Shiraz had one wicket each to their name.

In reply, Jaffna Kings’ chase never got going as they were rocked by three wickets each from Tharindu Ratnayake and Eshan Malinga. They slipped to 33-4 with Akif Javed and Dasun Shanaka also sharing a wicket each.

Only Wellalage managed to put up some fight with the bat and it was because of his 39-ball 56 that Jaffna Kings managed to salvage some pride and closed in on the loss margin. Wellalage hit four fours and as many sixes in the lost battle that he waged as Kings went from 99-8 in 12.3 overs to 133 all out with Williams unable to walk out to bat due to injury.

David Wiese was the only other batter to cross the 20-run mark as he scored 22 with the help of three fours. Ratnayake finished with three for 19 in four, Malinga with three for 13 in three, while Viyaskanth also picked up a wicket.

Brief Scores

Galle Gallants won by 60 runs

Galle Gallants: 193/8 in 20 overs

]Sahan Arachchige 63 (36), Chris Lynn 46 (22), Mohammad Nawaz 27 (16); Dilshan Madushanka 2/35 (4), Lizaad Williams 2/37 (4)

Jaffna Kings: 133/9 in 17.5 overs

[Dunith Wellalage 56 (39), David Wiese 22 (20); Eshan Malinga 3/13 (3), Tharindu Ratnayake 3/19 (4)]

Sports

Arachchige, Rathnayake and Malinga pump Jaffna

Published

20 hours ago

2026/07/24

Priyan

A 36 ball 63 by Sahan Arachchige and three wickets each by Eshan Malinga [3-13] and Tharindu Rathnayake [3-19] helped Galle Gallants defeat Jaffna Kings by 60 runs in the 10th match of the Lanka Premier League 2026. Galle Gallants lead the points table with three wins from four outings.

Scores:
Galle Gallants 193/8 in 20 overs [Chris Lynn 46, Sahan Arachchige 63, Dasun Shanaka 12, Dinura Kalupahana 10, Mohammad Nawaz 27; Mohamed Shiraz 1-23, Dunith Wellalage 1-13, Shakib Al Hasan 1-27, Dilshan Madushanaka 2-35, Lizaad Williams 2-37]

Jaffna Kings 133 in 17.5 overs [Kamil Mishara 15, Ibrahim Zadran 11, David Weise 22, Dunith Wellalage 56; Dasun Shanaka 1-21, Tharindu Rathnayake 3-19, Akif Javed 1-22, Eshan Malinga 3-13, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth 1-32]