Sports
Pushpakumara: an unsung hero

A decade of steeplechase dominance
by Reemus Fernando
Dominating any sport for a long time is not an easy task. It takes commitment and a deep devotion to the sport to perform continuously at the top level specially when rewards for achievements are hard to come by. Rajapaksha Mudiyanselage Samantha Pushpakumara, lovingly called ‘Blackiya’ by fellow athletes, is one of the rare performers who demonstrated such commitment and determination to dominate one of track and field’s more demanding disciplines, the 3,000 metres steeplechase for almost ten years.
From 2011 he was the undisputed champion in his pet event, the 3000 metres steeplechase, which is still to attract the recognition it richly deserves in Sri Lanka and the South Asian region. Pushpakumara clocked 9:05.45 seconds to win his maiden national title in 2011 reached his peak six years later when he clocked a notable 8:52.19 seconds at the National Championship in 2017. That personal best performance powered him to the 30th position in Asian rankings behind a host of Japanese and African born athletes. That was the third fastest performance in the South Asian region that year.
The absence of this endurance discipline at the South Asian Games has prevented the likes of Pushpakumara from hogging limelight at the regional event and testing their true potentials by competing against tough opposition. However, despite such drawbacks and even the absence of the event at the National Sports Festival, Pushpakumara has persevered in this discipline for more than a decade now.
Though, Sri Lanka started this discipline only after a synthetic track was first laid at the Sugathadasa Stadium in 1989, it has a long history in Asia with both the Asian Games (1951) and the Asian Athletics Championships (1973) featuring the event from the very inception.
Of the steeplechase races conducted at the National Championships since 1989, Pushpakumara has accounted for nearly one third of the titles, an achievement that needs to be applauded. Apart from the National titles, Pushpakumara has accounted for many Sri Lanka Army Athletics titles, Defence Services Championship titles and bagged numerous trial meet victories.
For an athlete who has dominated the discipline for so many years, the national record was probably the only achievement that he could not accomplish. According to Sri Lanka Athletics Recorder Saman Kumara, Pushpakumara is ranked third in the country’s all-time best performers’ list in the steeplechase.
Only the national record holder Shantha Mendis and former national champion Upendra Indika Bandara have run faster than Pushpakumara in the history of this discipline.
Apart from steeplechase, Pushpakumara also found success in the 5,000 metres and the Cross Country winning titles including the National Sports Festival title on more than one occasion.
Pushpakumara’s commitment for steeplechase and long-distance events was rewarded by Sri Lanka Athletics when he was selected for a few international events including the Asian Cross Country Championships and the Vietnam Open Athletics Championships. In 2017 he was the winner of both the steeplechase and the 1500 metres at the Vietnam Open Athletics Championships.
He was picked for the South Asian Games teams solely on merit of his 5000 metres performances as his pet event was yet to debut at the regional event.
With no big achievements to his credit at school level, Pushpakumara honed his ability to run distance events after joining the Army. But it took several years after joining the Artillery Regiment, for him to carve a niche for himself as a formidable steeplechaser at national level.
The only child in the family, Pushpakumara had “won village Avurudu races” but “had no big victories at school level” as a student of Mellawagedara MV, Divulapitiya. His first notable achievement whilst in the Army came in 2008 when he was placed third in the 5,000 metres at the Army Athletics Championship. That was after he came under the supervision of Brigadier Parry Liyanage who was a mentor to many leading distance runners including Chaminda Wijekoon and Anurada Indrajith Cooray who later went on to establish Sri Lanka records in the men’s 1500 metres and the marathon respectively.
After dominating the steeplechase for nearly a decade, Pushpakumara has decided to shift his focus to distance road events. He won the 5000 metres at the last National Athletics Championship hheld in December but had to be content with the runner up title in the 3,000 metres steeplechase. It was the first time in ten years that the title eluded him.
He will probably make one last attempt to regain the title at the next National Championships under the guidance of Upali Wickramasinghe, who has been training him for a long time now. The result of the men’s steeplechase at the next nationals will be of little interest to Pushpakumara’s fans as he has already left a lasting impression in their hearts.
Profile
Name: Rajapaksha Mudiyanselage
Samantha Pushpakumara
Date of birth:
16th March 1983
Club:
Sri Lanka Army
Personal Bests:
1,500m:
3:53.59 secs
3,000m Steeplechase:
8:52.19secs
5,000m:
14:26.68 secs
Coaches:
Parry Liyanage,
Upali Wickramasinghe
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Gill and Theekshana are the new No. 1s in ODI rankings

Shubman Gill and Maheesh Theekshana have become the new No. 1 men’s ODI batter and bowler respectively in the ICC rankings update released on the opening day of the Champions Trophy. Gill has gone past Babar Azam on his list, while Theekshana has gone past Rashid Khan on his.
Gill had an excellent time of it in the home ODI series against England, which India won 3-0, with scores of 87, 60 and 112, which made him the top run-getter in the series, his 259 runs coming at an average of 86.33 and a strike rate of 103.60. The next highest scorer, Shreyas Iyer, was 78 behind Gill with 181 runs.
This is the second time Gill has gone to the top of the pile in ODI cricket – the previous occasion was during the ODI World Cup in 2023.
Gill’s rise has pushed Babar to second place. Gill has 796 rating points, while Babar has 773.
They are followed in the top five by Rohit Sharma, Heinrich Klaasen and Daryl Mitchell, who has moved up two places after the tri-series in Pakistan where he scored 81, 10 and 57.
Following the two-ODI series against England, Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka has moved up eight spots to No. 8, while Mohammad Rizwan, the Pakistan captain, has reached 15th place.
Sri Lanka are not a part of the Champions Trophy, having missed out on qualification, but along with Asalanka, Theekshana made the most of the two-ODI series at home against Australia, returning 4 for 40 and none for 11.
Rashid, who hasn’t played an ODI since last December, has slipped to the second spot, but isn’t too far behind Theekshana – he has 669 ratings points to the table-topper’s 680, and a good Champions Trophy campaign can take him back to the top.
Behind Theekshana and Rashid on the bowlers’ table is Namibia’s Bernard Scholtz followed by India’s Kuldeep Yadav and Pakistan’s Shaheen Shah Afridi in the top five. Mitchell Santner the New Zealand captain, has made big moves too, his five wickets in the three ODIs in the Pakistan tri-series giving him a five-spot boost and putting him at No. 7.
[Cricinfo]
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Given how little we’ve seen of it over the last year-and-a-half or thereabouts, then, our appetite for the ODI should be at its peak, even if the Champions Trophy remains an awkward fit in the calendar and the interests of the ICC’s member boards. So much has happened since Sarfaraz Ahmed lifted this trophy eight years ago, enough for everyone to forget that it even exists, but here we are now, and here it is once again.
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Haris Rauf played no part in the recent ODI tri-series after going off the field with a side strain during the opening game against New Zealand. He has been bowling in the nets in the lead-up to the Champions Trophy, though, and Pakistan captain Mohammad Rizwan was confident he would be fit to start the tournament-opener. This should leave Pakistan able to pick a full-strength XI.
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Pakistan (possible): Fakhar Zaman, Babar Azam, Saud Shakeel, Mohammad Rizwan (capt & wk), Salman Agha, Tayyab Tahir, Khushdil Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Naseem Shah, Haris Rauf, Abrar Ahmed.
New Zealand: Rachin Ravindra/Will Young, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (capt), Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy, Will O’Rourke.
[Cricinfo]
Sports
Matthews, Sciver-Brunt extend Mumbai’s winning run against Giants

There was an air of inevitability right from the time a beaming Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and elected to bowl in Mumbai Indians’ second match of WPL 2025 against Gujarat Giants. Teams chasing had won every single game so far this season. Couple that with Mumbai’s 4-0 record against Giants coming into this match and odds were stacked heavily in Mumbai’s favour. And the game panned out accordingly.
Hayley Matthews’ frugal three-wicket squeeze backed up by two-wicket hauls from Mat-Sciver Brunt and Amelia Kerr helped bowl out Giants for 120. Sciver-Brunt then continued her stellar run with the bat, scoring her second fifty on the bounce to shepherd Mumbai’s chase.
She finished with 57 off 39 balls as Mumbai chased down the target by five wickets and 23 balls to spare. The win not only helped Mumbai open their account in WPL 2025, but also extended their lead over Giants to 5-0. Giants are now the only side in the tournament to not have a single win against a particular team.
Harmanpreet spoke at the toss about capitalising in the first few overs before the dew set in. She went pace from both ends up top and the move paid dividend with Sciver-Brunt accounting for Beth Mooney, who sliced a simple catch to Sanskriti Gupta at backward point in the second over.
Shabnim Ismail then got rid of Laura Woolvardt, whose lofted drive could only go as far as S Sajana stationed perfectly at deep cover. That reduced Giants to 14 for 2, which four balls later became 16 for 3 when Matthews sent back D Hemalatha whose across-the-line heave was caught wonderfully by Kerr sprinting to her left from deep mid-wicket.
Ashleigh Gardner, Giants’ wrecker-in-chief in the first two matches, started fluently again striking a four and six but was undone by a Sciver-Brunt slower delivery which she mistimed to Sajana at deep midwicket.
At 28 for 4 after six overs, Giants couldn’t have asked for a worse start. This was their third-lowest powerplay score in the WPL and comfortably the lowest for any team this season. What also hurt Giants were the sheer number of dot balls at the start. Twenty-six of the 36 balls in the powerplay were dots, the joint-most in WPL history.
It might be a case of Giants worrying about the dew later on or just them not trusting their defence enough that despite the fall of wickets, the batters continued going for their shots. Deandra Dottin got going with a reverse sweep, but a wild mow across the line off Kerr brought about her downfall, with Yastika Bhatia executing a quick stumping.
Kashvee Gautam, like many of her team-mates, started strong smashing debutant Parul Sisodia for two fours and then lifted Ismail for a six over long-on, but like the others, flattered to deceive edging Matthews behind.
In all this, Haleen Deol stood tall. She played the waiting game, but did not let any scoring opportunities go. The sweep became her ally as she breached the gaps with consistency during her 31-ball 32.
But the wickets continued to fall at the other end and when Deol departed with the score on 103 for 8 in the 17th over, the end was nigh. However, Sayali Satghare and Priya Mishra ensured that Giants played out their full quota of 20 overs.
For Mumbai, Matthews was miserly in her four-over spell going for just 16. She bowled 16 dot balls in her spell, as did Sciver-Brunt while 19 of the 24 balls that Ismail bowled were dots.
Coming into the tournament, there were questions raised on Sciver-Brunt’s form considering she had a relatively quiet Ashes. In a matter of two innings, she’s brushed aside the doubters.
A 121-chase was never going to be daunting. Matthews started fluently, striking three fours but ended up smashing a rank long-hop from Tanuja Kanwar straight to Deol at square leg. If Giants were entertaining any thoughts of a collapse, Sciver-Brunt shut that down quickly.
She got going with a fierce pull first ball and it was one-way traffic thereon. Dottin was crashed through point before Priya Mishra was pulled through square leg twice in three balls. While Bhatia fell mistiming Mishra to long-on and Harmanpreet was trapped in front by Kashvee, Sciver-Brunt stood like an immovable force.
It was not just power but also precision and the ability to find gaps at will that kept Sciver-Brunt going. She added a 45-run stand with Kerr off 38 balls to take Mumbai closer. She took 34 balls to collect her fifty before falling just seven runs shy of the target. G Kamalini, on debut, struck her first ball for four while Sajana finished the game by depositing Dottin over mid-off to give Mumbai their first win of WPL 2025.
The win has taken Mumbai to second place on the points table while Giants’ NRR has taken a hit, though they are in third place.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians Women 122 for 5 in 16.1 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 57, Amelia Kerr 19; Kashvee Gautam 2-15, Priya Mishra 2-40, Tanuja Kanvar 1-25 ) beat Gujarat Giants women 120 in 20 overs (Harleen Deol 32, Kashvee Gautam 20; Shabnim Ismail 1-17, Nat Sciver Brunt 2-26, Hayley Matthews 3-16, Amelia Kerr 2-22, Amanjot Kaur 1-17) by five wickets
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