Rex Clementine at Dambulla

Sri Lanka awarded Dunith Wellalage his long-awaited T20 debut in the second game against the West Indies in Dambulla yesterday. Despite his significant experience in ODIs, with 24 appearances under his belt, the versatile all-rounder had been sidelined from the T20 format—until now.

Earlier this year, Wellalage traveled with Sri Lanka’s World Cup squad to the United States and West Indies but didn’t feature in a match. Curiously, his Test debut came over two years ago, at just 19, though he was dropped after a single outing. Many fans and analysts have puzzled over the delay in giving him a T20 chance, as he’s shown promise as a solid white-ball player.

For this game, Wellalage’s left-arm spin and lower middle-order batting were favored over seam-bowling all-rounder Chamindu Wickramasinghe. The decision to add an extra spinner seemed strategic, as the match would be played on the same wicket used in the first game on Sunday.

Sri Lanka made a second adjustment, bringing in fast bowler Nuwan Thusara to replace Asitha Fernando. The hosts lost the opening T20 by a narrow margin in the final over, as the West Indies successfully chased down the 180-run target with five wickets in hand.

Ranked third in the ICC standings, the West Indies are a formidable opponent, while Sri Lanka sit at eighth. A series win could boost Sri Lanka’s rankings and morale.

Sri Lanka were aiming at dismantling the West Indies’ opening pair early on after their fiery partnership in the first T20 set the tone. The duo amassed 107 runs inside the first nine overs, with 74 runs coming off the Powerplay alone. Despite a solid recovery by Sri Lanka’s bowlers, the initial damage proved too much.

Sri Lanka’s total of 179 in the first T20 was powered by impressive half-centuries from captain Charith Asalanka and all-rounder Kamindu Mendis. Despite recent success in Tests and ODIs, the T20 format has been less kind to them, a trend Asalanka hopes to reverse. Before the series began, he emphasized the importance of excelling in the shortest format, with an eye on the 2026 T20 World Cup that Sri Lanka will co-host with India.

After this series, Sri Lanka will play two more T20s against New Zealand next month before traveling to New Zealand in December for a three-match T20 series.

All Island Schools Games Athletics Championship

by Reemus Fernando

Nannapurawa MV, Bibila athlete Madushani Herath is the highest ranked junior athlete taking part in the All Island Schools Games Athletics Championship which will commence at the Sugathadasa Stadium on Friday.

It will be her last major meet as a junior athlete. She has remained unbeaten at local championships ever since her rise to prominence as a 16-year old long jumper in 2021.

She is not in her best form according to her coach M.G.M. Kumara but is expected to conclude her schools athletics career unbeaten and probably with the best athlete title in her age category.

The Asian Junior Athletics championship silver medallist in the girls’ triple jump, Madushani has turned tables on experienced athletes at senior level as well. At present she is the reigning national champion in both the women’s long jump and the triple jump.

She could not take part in the recently held South Asian Junior Athletics Championship and the Sir John Tarbat Senior Athletics Championship due to an injury. It will be interesting to see how she concludes her schools competitions.

By A Special Sports Correspondent

Isipatana can be proud of Shahid Zumri, one of its recent outstanding products in the sport of rugby. The lad shone for his school in the 2024 school season and was chosen to represent the senior national sevens team contesting the Asia Rugby Emirates Trophy in Nepal. This feat marks his debut with the Sri Lanka senior rugby team. What makes his achievement all the more memorable is that Zumri did it while still being a schoolboy.

From an analytical point of view, the breaking into the national team is a mighty achievement because he has slotted in with players who are now professionals in the sport. This writer says so because the game is now played at club level by ruggerites who are virtual ‘beasts’ who eat, drink and sleep rugby. School rugby is not less competitive. This is why Zumri was able to upgrade his rugby from school level to national level at such a young age. That’s a huge leap. He is yet to experience the knocks in club rugby and the news reaching the sports desk at ‘The Island’ is that he has already signed up to represent Kandy Sports Club during the 2024/25 inter-club league rugby season. The inter-club rugby season will begin in November.

He will be playing for a club that is led by a product of the same factory (Isipatana College) that produced him. That player is none other than Srinath Sooriyabandara. Zumri going straight to Kandy SC is a challenge in itself. We had players like the late Sajith Mallikarachchi, Nalaka Weerakkody, Ashoka Jayasena and Sanjeewa Jayasinghe who started with other Colombo clubs before heading to the Nittawela Club, now considered as the supreme institute in rugby that offers players a professional atmosphere to pursue careers in rugby. All these above mentioned players had some grooming in club rugby before they moved to Kandy SC.

Zumri showed in no uncertain terms that he is a team player while wearing the green jersey for his alma mater at rugby. That’s a quality that’ll hold him in good stead in his new club. Kandy SC is oozing with talent and Zumri can certainly add to the equation with his dazzling play, quicksilver footwork and solid thinking. Only selfless players like Zumri can think ‘right’ when a tough situation on the field demands that a player chooses for his team and not for himself.

There is a lot to learn by playing for Kandy SC. To start with, Kandy SC is struggling to avenge woes from a less than successful season last year. Last season Kandy SC finished as runners up in the league tournament and chose to pull out from the knockouts. We all know that Kandy SC is now experiencing a team rebuilding process. This is the best time for school leavers to enroll at a club. There were times when Kandy SC and CR&FC in recent years and Havelocks SC and Police Sports Club in the past were like heavy weights in rugby and didn’t have doors open for schoolboys to walk in just like that and represent their ‘A’ teams. You just had to warm the bench and wait patiently till your turn or opportunity arrived.

Shahid Zumri (Right)

Going down memory lane, the present Kandy SC skipper Sooriyabandara had to dig into his reserves and produce something brilliant when given a chance at Kandy because for several years he was not the number one choice at the club given that Roshan Weeraratne was around. To make matters worse for Sooriyabandara, Weeraratne was also the sipper of the side and saw his name in the starting line-up all the time. But Sooriyabandara survived and lived his dream in rugby while being at Kandy SC.

Now Sooriyabandara is one of the oldest players in the Sri Lanka rugby scene. There was a time when he carried a little too much girth as a player, but now he has dropped some kilos and is nippy like his former self. Last season was memorable for Sooriyabandara who was outstanding from the base of the scrum and in loose play. While ageing, this player is underscoring that wise saying ‘old is gold’. It would be bad if we don’t remember players like Dunstan de Silva, Norman Silva, Baratha Hegoda, Hisham Abdeen and Marco de Silva who went on to play rugby beyond their prime years for the love of the game. But the difference in Sooriyabandara is that he has retained pristine form. For the record he was chosen to represent the national team at the recent Asia Rugby Emirates Trophy sevens tournament in Nepal where Sri Lanka won the third place play off. Another aspect that raises the thinking of a player is when he undertakes other roles in rugby while playing competitively. In this case Sooriyabandara is already a school rugby coach and was a member of the coaching staff at St. Anthony’s College during the past two seasons. We remember the days when Nizam Jamaldeen of Police fame made a name for himself as a referee while still representing the law enforcement officers at rugby in the division 1 tournament. Even while being a club rugby player, Jamaldeen was a sought after referee for school rugby matches; especially the Bradby Shield.

So much is expected of Kandy SC this season with the Sooriyabandara and Zumri teaming up for the central hills’ sole A Division side. There is more good news for the Kandy side with outstanding players from the 2024 school rugby season in the calibre of Gayan Perera (Vidyartha), Nimsha Peiris (Dharmaraja) and Trinity’s stand-in captain Thisanka Dissanayake also signing up with the Nittawela side. Kandy SC rugby is in for good times!