Sports
Lahiru Kumara’s fiery comeback
Rex Clementine in Port Elizabeth
It’s been over 15 years since Chaminda Vaas hung up his boots, yet Sri Lanka is still in search for a fast-bowling heir to his throne. Suranga Lakmal was a trusty workhorse, racking up 171 Test wickets and even standing in as skipper on occasions. He could’ve breached the 200-wicket mark but opted for the golden handshake of a lucrative two-year deal with Derbyshire. The eternal question remains: will anyone ever replicate Vaas’ mastery? Well, Lahiru Kumara might just be the man to step up and take a crack at it.
In the second Test at Port Elizabeth, Kumara delivered a beauty to South Africa’s Aiden Markram – a ball that cut back sharply, kissing the stumps goodbye. That was his 100th Test scalp, a milestone only four other Sri Lankan quicks have reached. The boy from Kandy had arrived, and how.
Kumara’s journey to cricket was as accidental as spilling tea on a new white shirt. Originally a hockey player, a whack from a hockey stick sent him straight to Kandy General Hospital. Upon his return, his mother promptly cremated the offending stick, thus ending his hockey career. Left with no choice but to switch sports, Kumara turned to cricket. Enter Sampath Perera, the eagle-eyed scout who whisked him away to Trinity College.
From there, Kumara’s rise was swift. Representing Sri Lanka’s Under-19 side, he shone brightly in a series win in England. Coach Roy Dias, a man with an eye for talent sharper than a tailor’s needle, predicted great things for the young pacer. And soon enough, Kumara was catapulted to the senior side.
He made headlines as a 19-year-old in Cape Town, rattling South Africa with six wickets in an innings in a Test match. The pièce de résistance? Cleaning up Hashim Amla through the gate – a dismissal any bowler would frame on their wall. Graham Ford, Sri Lanka’s head coach at the time, echoed Dias’ sentiments about Kumara’s promising future.
But cricket, like life, rarely follows a straight path. That career-best performance in Cape Town remains his peak to this day. Expectations weighed heavily, and soon, Kumara’s career veered off course. The culture within the team didn’t help, with young players often left to fend for themselves. Despite consistently clocking speeds north of 140 km/h, injuries and fitness issues plagued him.
Lahiru became something of a ticking time bomb, breaking down mid-match like the Norochcholai Power Plant. Whether it was Gabba in 2019, Centurion in 2020, Pallekele in 2021, or Mohali in 2022, the story was the same—hamstring tears and disappointed teammates.
When he was sent home from last year’s World Cup in India, injuries were cited. But whispers suggested there was more to it. The authorities finally cracked the whip, giving Kumara an ultimatum to shape up or ship out. Fines rained down for failing fitness tests, and he found himself at a crossroads.
And then, 2024 happened. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes – or perhaps a fast bowler emerging from rehab – Kumara has been sensational. He’s snared 29 Test wickets in seven matches at an impressive average of 22, miles ahead of his career average of 35.
How did this turnaround come about? Enter Sanath Jayasuriya, wielding both carrot and stick with precision. While some players respond to gentle encouragement, with Kumara, it was tough love all the way. The results speak for themselves. Kumara’s fiery spells secured two Test wins in Bangladesh and a historic victory at The Oval – Sri Lanka’s first Test win in England in a decade.
In South Africa, he’s been a revelation, bowling with venom and accuracy. It’s not just wickets he’s collecting – he’s leaving a trail of bruised and battered fingers in his wake. Wiaan Mulder missed the series after copping one on the middle finger, while Ryan Rickelton soldiered on despite taking a nasty blow. Kagiso Rabada’s bat was broken to pieces from a Lahiru thunderbolt.
For once, it’s the Sri Lankan quicks dishing out the punishment rather than being on the receiving end. Watching South African batsmen taste their own medicine has been a rare delight.
Lahiru is a changed man. At training, he’s buzzing with energy, even arguing with referees during warm-up football games like an overexcited schoolboy. The High-Performance Center deserves credit for sharpening his accuracy, while the selectors have managed his workload with care.
If he continues on this trajectory, Lahiru could well be the second Sri Lankan quick after Vaas to hit the 300-wicket milestone. Now, wouldn’t that be something? The boy who swapped hockey for cricket might just carve his name into Sri Lankan cricketing folklore.
North Korea has held the Pyongyang International Marathon for the first time in six years, welcoming some 200 foreign runners to the streets of the reclusive country’s capital.
The marathon, which was launched in 1981, took place annually in April to celebrate the birth of its founding leader Kim Il Sung.
Before Sunday’s marathon, the race was last held in 2019, wherein 950 foreigners participated. North Korea sealed itself off the following year, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
North Korea has been slow to reopen since, allowing only Russian tourists into its capital since last year.
Runners have had to enter the country as part of an organised tour group, as was the case before the pandemic.
Koryo Tours, a Beijing-based travel agency listed as an “exclusive partner” on the event website, offers six-day marathon tours at 2,195 euros ($2,406) including flights to and from Beijing.
“The Pyongyang Marathon is an extremely unique experience as it provides an opportunity to interact with locals,” the agency wrote on its website.
Sunday’s marathon route took participants past landmarks across the city, including the Kim Il Sung stadium, the Arch of Triumph built to commemorate Kim Il Sung’s role in resisting Japanese rule, and the Mirae Future Scientists’ Street said to be a residential district for scientists and engineers.
Pictures online show the stadium – where runners start and finish their race – filled with spectators, many of them cheering and waving gold-coloured paper flags.
Pak Kum Dong, a North Korean runner, told Reuters news agency: “The eyes of our people on me helped me to bear the difficulties whenever I feel tired.”
There is no publicly available information on race results.
North Korea had only statred to scale back Covid-19 restrictions in the middle of 2023.
In Feburary, it allowed some Western tourists into the remote, eastern city Rason, but suspended those tours just weeks after.
[BBC]
Noor Ahmad, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) left-arm wristspinner, continues to head the Purple Cap table with ten wickets from four games. His spell of 4 for 18 in CSK’s first game against MI, remains his best so far.
DC’s Mitchell Starc who picked up his maiden five-for in T20s, against SRH remains second on the list with nine wickets in three games.
GT’s Mohammed Siraj equalled Starc’s tally on Sunday night with his own IPL best, albeit he has played four games to Starc’s three. Siraj picked up 4 for 17 against SRH to hand them their four successive loss, and was named the Player of the Match.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) suffered another batting malfunction, this time on a slow, black-soil surface at home, crashing to their fourth successive defeat in IPL 2025. Having lost Travishek in the powerplay, SRH waited until the 13th over to see the first six of the innings, and managed only one more after that Mohammad Siraj caused irreparable damage right from the start, ending with his career-best IPL figures of 4 for 17.
Pat Cummins’ cameo (22* off nine balls) and then his dismissal of Jos Buttler for a duck in Gujarat Titans’ (GT) chase of 153 gave SRH some hope, but that faded away once Washington Sundar clattered 23 off nine balls in the powerplay. Earlier in the day, GT didn’t need Washington with the ball, but his attacking enterprise at No. 4 settled their chase on a slow pitch. Washington fell agonisingly short of a maiden IPL half-century, but his captain Shubman Gill ushered GT home, with an unbeaten 61 off 43 balls, along with Sherfane Rutherford.
Siraj had sparked the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to life when he gave Travis Head a send-off in Adelaide last December. Four months on, Siraj was bowling to Head for the first time in T20s, and the battle lasted just five balls. After Head scored two fours off Siraj, the fast bowler struck with his trademark wobble-seam delivery, having him chip a catch to midwicket for 8.
Abhishek Sharma hit four fours before Siraj had him miscuing a catch to mid-on in his third over of the powerplay. It was Siraj’s 100th wicket in the IPL and sixth in the powerplay, the most by a bowler in that phase so far this season, with an economy rate of 6.27.
Siraj then returned in the death to york both Aniket Verma, the last recognised batter for SRH, and Simarjeet Singh, their Impact Player.
With both Head and Abhishek gone early,Rashid Khan, who was coming into this game on the back of figures of 4-0-54-0, could afford to ease himself in. He started fairly well by giving away just 10 runs in his first two overs, but when he erred in length, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Heinrich Klassen dispatched him to the fence. Rashid finished with 4-0-31-0, going wicketless for a third successive game, and with tournament figures of 1 for 143 in 14 overs at an economy rate of 10.21
Left-arm fingerspinner Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, on the other hand, showed remarkable control over his length and variations. He claimed the big wicket of Klaasen by knocking him over with a quick dart, which skidded off the pitch, for 27 off 19 balls. Sai Kishore also had Reddy holing out for 31 off 34 balls and finished with 4-0-24-2.
That SRH passed 150 was down to Cummins’ late blows. He was the only SRH batter in the top eight to have a strike rate of over 160.
It appeared like GT had handed a franchise debut to Washington to primarily match his offspin up with SRH’s left-hander heavy top order. But with Siraj dominating the powerplay and Sai Kishore taking care of the middle overs, GT ended up not using his offspin.
Washington then walked out to bat at No. 4 after his childhood friend B Sai Sudarshan and Buttler fell cheaply in successive overs. Washington took advantage of the last over of the powerplay, smoking Simarjeet for two sixes and two fours. It provided a throwback to Washington of 2016, when he opened the batting, alongside Abhinav Mukund, in the TNPL and showed the intent to hit over the top. Just like that, Washington dumped SRH’s Impact Player out of the attack.
Washington continued to attack even after that. When the ambidextrous Kamindu Mendis darted one on the stumps with his right hand, Washington manufactured swinging room and laced him over extra-cover for four. Washington seemed set for a fifty until he holed out one shy of the landmark in the 14th over.
Gill, who had already crossed 50 by that point, finished the job along with Rutherford, who hit an unbeaten 35 off 16 balls.
Brief scores:
Gujarat Titans 153 for 3 in 16.4 overs (Shubman Gill 61*, Washington Sundar 49, Sherfaine Rutherford 35*; Mohammed Shami 2-28, Pat Cumminss 1-26) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 152 for 8 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 18, Ishan Krishan 17, Nitish Kumar Reddy 31, Heinrich Klassen 27, Aniket Verma 18,Pat Cummins 22*; Mohammed Siraj 4-17, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore 2-24, Prasidh Krishna 2-25)by seven wickets
[Cricinfo]
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