Sports
SL Youth players shine as Nalanda, St. Joseph’s continue unbeaten run

by Reemus Fernando
Sri Lanka Under 19 players including skipper Dunith Wellalage, Raveen de Silva, and Vinuja Ranpul excelled for their respective schools as St. Joseph’s and Nalanda concluded the league stage as group champions of the Under 19 Division I cricket tournament Tier ‘A’ competition on Tuesday.
At the match played at Hambantota, Raveen de Silva produced one of the best all-round performances of the tournament when he picked up four wickets after top-scoring with 104 runs to lead Nalanda to 57 runs victory over Richmond.
De Silva was ably supported in the batting department by Sri Lanka Youth cap Ranpul with whom he put on 194 runs for the third wicket. Their efforts powered Nalanda to 291 runs. While Ranpul scored seven fours and a six in his century, De Silva hammered 11fours and three sixes in his 81 ball knock.
Nalanda concluded the league stage unbeaten with five victories against their name. They are the champions in group ‘Y’. Richmond remain in the second place with three victories.
At Kotahena, the Joes overcame a fighting century by Sharujan Shanmuganathan to beat St. Benedict’s by 49 runs. Valuable half-centuries by Wellalage and Hiran Jayasundara helped the Darley Road team post 316 runs before Deshan Seneviratne led the bowling attack with a three-wicket haul to restrict the home team to 267 runs. Sri Lanka Youth Cap Shevon Daniel came up with good all round performances. The Joes concluded the league as champions in group ‘X’.
In Tier ‘B’, Isipatana regained the top position in group ‘Y’ as their late order batsmen helped them reach a target of 188 runs for the loss of seven wickets to beat St. Joseph Vaz’s College.
Lahiru Dawatage was the hero for St. Peter’s as his century helped the home team post 275 runs before cruising to 181 runs win over Dharmapala. The victory means the Petes further cement their top position in group ‘X’.
In the other Tier ‘B’ group ‘X’ match played yesterday, Mahinda registered a 79 run victory over St. Anthony’s, Wattala.
Match Results
Joes defy Sharujan to win at Kotahena
Scores:
St. Joseph’s
316 for 8 in 50 overs (Abishek Jayaweera 25, Shevon Daniel 29, Muditha Lakshan 25, Dunith Wellalage 74, Hiran Jayasundara 78n.o.; Sachin Senanayake 3/63)
St. Benedict’s
267 for 9 in 50 overs (Sharujan Shanmuganathan 108, Ashen De Soyza 33, Shenel Samarathunga 65, Yohan Soyza 21; Deshan Senaviratne 3/52, Shevon Daniel 2/58, Muditha Lakshan 2/50)
Raveen, Vinuja score centuries for Nalanda at Hambantota
Scores:
Nalanda
291 for 6 in 50 overs (Rusiru Vilochana 40, Vinuja Ranpul 100, Raveen de Silva 104; Kalpa Nethsara 2/48, Sharon Abhishek 2/65)
Richmond
234 all out 46.3 overs (Vishara Fernando 85, Janeth Kaushal 39, Malsha Tharupathi 30; Sajitha Vithanage 2/44, Raveen de Silva 4/53)
Tier ‘B’
Mahinda beat St. Anthony’s at Galle
Scores:
Mahinda
206 for 9 in 50 overs (Hareen Achintha 30, Pramesh Madubashana 45, Tharusha Dilshan 50, Ranmina Hettiarachchi 24n.o.; Pathum Vihaga 4/24, Amitha Sandeepa 4/36)
St. Anthony’s
127 all out in 42.3 overs (Abdul Rahuman 64; Tharusha Dilshan 4/30, Kushan Madusha 2/24, Hiruna Mandila 2/10)
Petes beat Dharmapala by 181 runs at Bambalapitiya
Scores:
St. Peter’s
275 all out in 49.3 overs (Lahiru Dawatage 117, Wanuja Kumara 29, Nimuthu Gunawardana 31, Niman Umesh 42; Ushan Galagedara 3/39, Thisara Sishara 3/52)
Dharmapala
94 all out in 29 overs (Pasindu Theekshana 24; Danal Hemananda 2/15, Wanuja Kumara 2/11, Niman Umesh 2/21, Shannon Rodrigo 2/06)
Isipatana win by three wickets at BRC
Scores:
St. Joseph
Vaz’s 187 all out in 44.4 overs (Chamath Fernando 76, Vishwa Rajapaksha 44; Akash Balakrishnan 3/21, Randunu Ganganath 3/23)
Isipatana
189 for 7 in 35.2 overs (Tharusha Nethsara 35, Yasith Kalupahana 44, Themiya Gunarathne 28, Randunu Ganganath 20n.o. ; Kaushan Wijerathne 2/42, Dhanuka Nirmal2/35, Raveen Chethana 2/35)
Sports
Sayuri, Nuren clinch Under 12 singles titles

St. Joseph’s College, Darley Road player Nuren Wevita and Sayuri Mututhanthiri of Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo clinched the lowest age category titles of the 110th Colombo Championships concluded at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association clay courts on Friday.
Wevita won the Under 12 boys’ title with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Kashya Seneviratne in the final. Sayuri registered 6-1, 6-3 win over Rehansa Ranasinghe in the girls’ title fight.
Latest News
Roston Chase appointed West Indies’ Test captain

Roston Chase has been appointed West Indies’ new Test captain. The allrounder’s first Test as captain will be his 50th; his 49th, against South Africa in Johannesburg, came more than two years ago. West Indies have played 13 Tests since then.
Chase has previously led West Indies in one ODI and one T20I. His first assignment in the longest format will be the three-Test home series against Australia, which begins on his home ground in Bridgetown on June 25. Left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican will be Chase’s vice-captain.
The series will be the first of the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle for both teams.
CWI said that Chase had been appointed from a shortlist of six after a “detailed assessment process that included psychometric testing to evaluate leadership style, behaviour, and overall suitability for the role”. The other candidates interviewed were John Campbell, Tevin Imlach, Joshua Da Silva, Justin Greaves, and Warrican.
Shai Hope, West Indies captain in the white-ball formats, asked not to be considered in order to focus on his exciting leadership roles.
“This selection process is one of the most comprehensive and forward-thinking we have undertaken,” CWI president, Kishore Shallow, said. “I am deeply impressed by the professionalism, objectivity, and strategic thinking that shaped the final decision. It sets a new benchmark for leadership appointments in West Indies cricket.”
West Indies head coach, Daren Sammy, said: “I fully endorse this appointment. Our new captain has earned the respect of his peers, understands the responsibility that comes with the role, and has shown the leadership qualities we need to take this team forward. I urge fans across the region to rally behind him–we’re building something special.”
The 33-year-old Chase takes over from Kraigg Brathwaite, who resigned in March after 39 matches in charge of the Test team. West Indies won 10 of those Tests, lost 22 and drew seven.
At the time of Brathwaite’s resignation, CWI had handed Hope – already West Indies’ ODI captain – the T20I reins, but had held back on naming a new Test captain, announcing that they would do so “in the coming weeks”.
Brathwaite’s tenure was notable for a young West Indies team beginning to find ways of winning in different conditions with a growing pool of fast and spin bowlers. Notable performances included a 1-0 home series win over England in 2022, the Gabba Test win of January 2024, and a 1-1 draw in Pakistan in Brathwaite’s last series in charge, in January 2025.
Chase has scored 2265 runs at an average of 26.33, with five hundreds, and taken 85 wickets with his offspin at 46.00. One of his first tasks as captain will be to repair his batting numbers, which have fallen steadily following a promising start. He made a century in just his second Test, to help save the Jamaica Test against India in 2016, and scored two more over his first 10 Tests, across which he averaged 48.53. Since then, however, his numbers have declined significantly.
CWI announced Chase’s appointment via X, formerly Twitter, and said it had been “unanimously approved by the CWI Board of Directors” during a meeting on Friday.
[Cricinfo]
Latest News
WTC winners to get USD 3.6 million in prize money

The winners of the Woorld Test Championship [WTC] final, to be played between South Africa and Australia at Lord’s starting June 11, will secure a prize money of USD 3.6 million, more than double of the winners in the last two cycles. The runners-up, meanwhile, will bag more than USD 2.1 million, while the prize for the same in the previous editions was USD 800,000.
The winners in the last two cycles — New Zealand and Australia — had earned USD 1.6 million each.
“The increase in prize money exhibits the ICC’s efforts to prioritize Test cricket as it looks to build on the momentum of the first three cycles of the nine-team competition,” the ICC said in its release.
India, who finished third on the table, will receive over USD 1.4 million, while fourth-placed New Zealand get USD 1.2 million. Even the prize money for teams finishing fifth (USD 960000) and sixth (USD 840000) — England and Sri Lanka — is more than what it was for the runners-up in the previous editions.
South Africa topped the table in the 2023-25 edition with eight wins from 12 games, and were the first team to seal a final spot with a dramatic two-wicket win over Pakistan. Defending champions Australia got through by pipping India to the second spot after winning the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 3-1 at home.
Both teams have named their squads for the final. The focus for South Africa will be on their pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada after his one-month ban for failing a drug test, while Cameron Green makes his return to Australia’s Test side after undergoing a lower spine surgery last year.
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