Sports
Rukshan takes seven wickets as Ananda suffer third straight defeat

Under 19 Cricket
by Reemus Fernando
Spinner Kaveen Rukshan took seven wickets to dismiss Ananda for 153 runs in the second innings as Mahinda handed the home team their third consecutive defeat of the season in the Under 19 traditional cricket encounter at Ananda Mawatha on Wednesday.
A century by Hiruna Gallage was decisive for Mahinda as it helped the visitors post 266 for eight wickets declared on the second day morning.
Ananda were 107 runs behind when they commenced the second innings before lunch. With the inexperienced batting line up crumbling, stand in captain Iruth Gimshan resisted with 48 runs. Mihin Munasinghe and Isru Ayesh made 20s for them to last more than 50 overs but that was not enough to avert defeat.
Mahinda were left with a target of 47 runs to chase and they achieved it for the loss of three wickets.
Last week Ananda suffered back-to-back defeats at the hands of St. Anthony’s, Katugastota and Trinity.
Meanwhile at Asgiriya, Linal Subasinghe scored an unbeaten half century to anchor the batting line up of Wesley. They reached 95 for five wickets at stumps after restricting the home team to 193 runs on day one of their match.
Results
Mahinda beat Ananda by seven wickets at Ananda Mawatha
Scores:
Ananda
159 all out in 53.1 overs (Viduna Wijebandara 27, Iruth Gimshan 25, Ayesh Shahimal 42; Dhanuja Induwara 5/33, Tharusha Dilshan 2/37, Arosha Udayandga 2/18) and 153 all out in 51 overs (Iruth Gimshan 48, Mihin Munasinghe 22, Isuru Ayesh 21n.o.; Kaveen Rukshan 7/45)
Mahinda
142 for 5 overnight 266 for 8 decl. in 71 overs (Hareen Achintha 36, Hiruna Gallage 104, Tharusha Dilshan 46; Ayesh Shashimal 3/61, Ashinsa Nainayaka 4/89) and 48 for 3 in 9.4 overs (Hiruna Gallage 17n.o.; Ayesh Shashimal 2/26)
Trinity 193, Wesley 95/5 at Asgiriya
Scores:
Trinity
193 all out in 67.5 overs (Supun Waduge 26, Dinusha Peiris 31, Rahal Amarasinghe 56, Manula Kularatne 38; LinalSubasinghe 2/37, Uvin Perera 4/29,J. Weiman 3/53)
Wesley
95 for 5 in 32 overs (Linal Subasinghe 52n.o., Chamath Gomez 29; Manula Kularatne 2/17, Tharana Wimaladarma 2/26)
Foreign News
China censors ‘Tiananmen’ image of Asian Games athletes hugging

A photo of two Chinese female athletes that made an inadvertent reference to the Tiananmen Square massacre has been censored on Chinese social media.
The race numbers for Lin Yuwei and Wu Yanni form ’64’ – a common allusion to the incident which happened on June 4.
Discussions of the incident remain taboo in China, with authorities routinely scrubbing any mention of the topic from the internet.
In 1989, troops shot dead hundreds of pro-democracy protesters in Beijing. It remains unclear how many people actually died that day, but human rights groups’ estimates range from several hundred to several thousand killed.
The athletes had embraced each other after a 100m hurdles race at the Asian Games in which Ms Lin won gold. She was wearing her lane number 6 next to Ms Wu’s lane number 4 in the photo.
Users had posted on Weibo, one of China’s biggest social media platforms, congratulating Ms Lin. However, posts which included the photo were replaced with grey squares. However, the photo does not appear to have been completely scrubbed off the internet, with some Chinese news articles still showing a photo of the two athletes.
China has won nearly 300 medals so far in the Asian Games, which are currently taking place in the Chinese city of Hangzhou. It is due to go on until 8 October.
(BBC)
Latest News
All-round Afif helps Bangladesh survive Malaysia scare

Afif Hossain put on an all-round show as Bangladesh beat Malaysia by two runs to confirm their semi-final fixture against India at the Asian Games. Malaysia needed five in the last over with Virandeep Singh batting on 52 off 35, but Afif gave away just two runs to keep the upset at bay.
Afif varied the pace in each of the first three balls of the final over to frustrate Virandeep before lobbing one up outside his hitting arc. Virandeep tried to break the shackles but holed out to long-on with Malaysia still needing five. Afif then nailed two yorkers to give away just two runs and end the contest.
Chasing 117, Malaysia were reduced to 18 for 3, with Afif striking twice in the fifth over. Virandeep then stitched two key partnerships, adding 34 for the fifth wicket with Vijay Unni and then 40 for the seventh with wicketkeeper-batter Ainool Hafizs, to take his side close. But Malaysia faltered in the last over.
Earlier in the day, Afif found himself in the middle with Bangladesh three down inside three overs. He struck a 14-ball 23 with two fours and two sixes and added 38 in just four overs with captain Saif Hassan. Hassan struck a steady half-century – 50 off 52 balls – on a surface that slowed down considerably after the earlier game, between Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, in the day.
Pravandeep Singh, Virandeep’s elder brother, finished with two wickets for Malaysia but Bangladesh managed to get to 116, which eventually proved to be just enough.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 116 for 5 in 20 overs (Saif Hassan 50*, Afif Hossain 23, Shahadat Hossain 21; Pavandeep Singh 2-12) beat Malaysia 114 for 8 in 20 overs (Virandeep Singh 52, Syed Aziz 20; Afif Hossain 3-11, Ripon Mondol 3-14) by two runs
(Cricinfo)
Latest News
Naib, Qais knock Sri Lanka out to take Afghanistan into semi-final

Afghanistan knocked an inexperienced Sri Lanka side out of the Asian Games to book a spot in the semi-final in Hangzhou. On a slow-turner, Noor Ali Zadran struck a steady fifty before three-fors from Oais Ahmad and Gulbadin Naib dealt the final blow to Sri Lanka, who had nine debutants.
After opting to field, Sri Lanka struck with the seventh ball of the match when Nuwan Thushara cleaned up Sediqullah Atal. Noor and Mohammad Shahzad then added 54 for the second wicket but both batters struggled against left-arm spinner Nimesh Vimukthi and took their time in the middle.
After Shahzad fell to seamer Lahiru Samarakoon, Shahidullah struck some lusty blows during his 14-ball 23. But then a collapse ensued that saw Afghanistan slide from 92 for 2 to be bowled out for 116. Thushara, with his slingy action and accurate yorkers, finished with 4 for 17.
In reply, Sri Lanka raced off the blocks, with Lasith Croospulle hitting Naib for a four and a six in an 11-run second over. Even though he fell in the next over, Sri Lanka reached 59 for 3 by the end of the ninth over.
That’s when Qais came into the attack and turned the game around with a two-wicket over. Ashen Bandara fell to a googly and played on while attempting a drive. Three balls later, wicketkeeper-batter Lahiru Udara was lured into playing a heave across the line to be bowled.
Captain Sahan Arachchige showed some resistance with his 22 off 29, and later, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth kept the slim hopes alive when 15 were needed from 12 ball and then nine in the final over. But Karim Janat knocked Thushara over with the first ball of the 20th over to kick-start celebrations in the Afghan camp.
Brief scores:
Afghanistan 116 in 18.3 overs (Mohammad Shahzad 20, Noor Ali Zadran 51, Shahidullah 23; Nuwan Thushara 4-17, Sahan Arachchige 2-26) beat Sri Lanka 108 in 19.1 overs (Sahan Arachchige 22, Qais Ahmad 3-16, Gulbadin Naib 3-28) by eight runs
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