Sports

Sri Lanka Cricket play spoilsport with Joe-Pete Big Match

Published

1 year ago

2021/12/13

by Reemus Fernando

The 87th Battle of the Saints starting at the SSC ground in Colombo today will not feature the junior national players produced by St. Joseph’s and St. Peter’s after Sri Lanka Cricket authorities backtracked a decision to allow them for the annual encounter just two days ahead of the Big Match.

The two schools had been informed by SLC on Friday not to field the Youth national players forcing cricket authorities of the Darley Road and Bambalapitiya schools to make last minute amendments to their Playing XIs for the Big Match.

St. Joseph’s are badly hit by the decision as they were planning to field a strong XI inclusive of Sri Lanka Under 19 players, namely, skipper Dunith Wellalage, all rounder Shevon Daniel and Sadeesh Jayawardena for today’s match after obtaining permission from the cricket governing body well before the dates for the match were finalised. St. Peter’s were looking forward to include Youth National player Wanuja Kumara. Danal Hemananda and Lahiru Dewatage who were released before the England series making them available for St. Peter’s XI.

“We obtain SLC’s permission to field Youth Players and set the dates of the Big Match accordingly. We would have easily scheduled the Big Match ahead of Sri Lanka Under 19 assignments the way Royal and S. Thomas’ officials scheduled their Big Match had we been informed that the players would not be allowed to compete for the schools in December,” a source close to the Darley Road school told The Island yesterday.

St. Joseph’s skipper Dunith Wellalage led Sri Lanka Under-19 team and won back to back Youth ODI series recently.

With three key youth national players not been allowed to take part, St. Joseph’s have handed the captaincy to Sheran Fonseka, who is the only remaining player from the last Big Match. Fonseka will lead a virtual Under 17 team.

It has been customary for SLC to reserve Junior National players from competing for their schools when they are selected ahead of crucial assignments. Sri Lanka Under 19s are scheduled to take part in the Under 19 Asia Cup and ICC Youth World Cup. However, SLC released Royal and S. Thomas’ players for their annual Battle of the Blues just after the Bangladesh Under 19 series.

“We understand the importance to give priority to national duty. You cannot take a risk when a player is selected for national duty. But it would have been easy for us had the SLC announced their decision earlier without backtracking at the last minute,” a source closer to the Darley Road school said.

Teams:

St. Peter’s (from):

Nipunaka Fonseka (Captain), Vinuda Liyanage, Shenal Botheju, Lahiru Dawatage, Danal Hemananda, Nimuthu Gunawardena, Monil Silva, Niman Umesh, Chamelker de Silva, Rusanda Gamage, Vishen Halambage, Shannon Rodrigo, Lakindu Sachin.

St. Joseph’s (from):

Sheran Fonseka (Captain), Yesith Rupasinghe, Mithira Thenura, Dinal Anuradha, Deshan Vimukthi, Sahan Dabare, Kenath Sasmina, Lahiru Amarasekara, Hirun Kapurubandara, Shenuka de Silva, Jaden Makalanda, Hiran Jayasundara, Yenula Dewthusa.

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Sports

Lahiru takes five wickets as Joes take lead

Published

2 hours ago

2023/03/28

Sahan Weerasooriya

Lahiru Amarasekara

Under 19 Cricket

Off-spinner Lahiru Amarasekara produced a five-wicket haul as St. Joseph’s restricted Mahinda to 127 runs on day one of the Under 19 traditional cricket encounter at Galle on Monday.

Amarasekara was ably supported by spinner Yenula Dewthusa and Muditha Dissanayake who shared the other five wickets.

With wickets falling at regular intervals, batting opener Ranmina Hettiarachchi anchored the top order with a knock of 33 runs. Chandupa de Silva with 29 runs, Tharusha Dilshan (15) and Hiruna Gallalge (17) were the only other batsmen to reach double figures.

In their essay St. Joseph’s were comfortably placed at 132 for two wickets but back-to-back wickets in the last two overs placed them at 132 for four wickets at stumps.

At Welisara, Dinuka Tennakoon took five wickets but Maris Stella managed to post 268 runs as Shean Adithya top-scored with 83 runs. In reply Trinity were nine without loss.

Vihanga Nimsara and Rasindu Ilukshana were the heroes for Moratu Vidyalaya as their half-centuries helped them score 249 runs against St. Sylvester’s at Boyagane.

Match Details

At Galle: Mahinda 127, St. Joseph’s 132/4

Scores:

Mahinda

127 all out in 57 overs (Ranmina Hettiarachchi 33, Chandupa de Silva 29; Lahiru Amarasekara 5/34, Muditha Dissanayaka 2/23, Yenula Dewtusa 3/32)

St. Joseph’s

132 for 4 in 42.1 overs (Sadeesh Jayawardena 53, Naren Muralidaran 41; Shehan Hasaranga 2/39)

At Welisara: Maris Stella 268, Trinity 9/0

Scores:

Maris Stella

268 all out in 93.5 overs (Kaveen Fernando 26, Shean Adithya 83, Anshen de Silva 28, Ramith Bandara 33, Nethum Basnayake 26, Levin Fernando 22; Jayavi Liyanagama 2/40, Dinuka Tennakoon 5/74)

Trinity 9 for no loss in 4 overs

At Boyagane: Moratu Vidyalaya 249, St. Sylvester’s 5/1

Scores:

Moratu Vidyalaya

249 all out in 93.1 overs (Vihanga Nimsara 82, Rasindu Ilukshana 54; Isuru Gunasekara 2/28, Pansilu Bandara 2/50, Akila Wickramasinghe 3/48, Khanka Wickramasinghe 2/31)

St. Sylvester’s

5 for 1 in 4 overs.

Sports

Sowmiya clinches a triple crown, Silvijan bags a double

Published

2 hours ago

2023/03/28

Sahan Weerasooriya

Winners posing with their awards.

Northern Badminton Championship 2023

T. Silvijan Dalima was crowned men’s singles champion while S. Sowmiya clinched a triple crown at the Northern Badminton Championship 2023 in Kilinochchi during the weekend.

At the Provincial Indoor Stadium in Kilinochchi, Silvijan met K Thusan in the final clash in which the latter retired in the second set with scores reading 21-14, 16-11 in favour of the champion. L Hentry and K Kajan were the losing semi-finalists.

Meanwhile, S. Sowmiya won all three of her open events, the women’s singles, doubles and mixed doubles with respective partners.

Sowmiya clinched the women’s singles crown with a 21-15, 21-13 win over R. Ragavi in the final following her doubles title win with B. Oliviya. Sowmiya and Oliviya overcame Athmika and M. Kavinaya 21-9, 21-15 to seal the women’s doubles crown.

Earlier, Sowmiya and Silvijan, the best singles duo in the tournament, also won the mixed doubles title by defeating R. Sulacsan and S . Thanojana 21-12, 21-16 in the final.

The men’s doubles final was won by L. R. Reminsan and T. Thusyanthan who beat G. Thanukanth and R. Yuthakaran with a 21-13, 21-9 score line.

The tournament, organised by the Northern Province Badminton Association, was conducted under the guidance of Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB). SLB President Rohan de Silva and a host of top officials were among the special guests at the presentation ceremony.

Sports

St. Peter’s Tennis teams up with Yeti

Published

2 hours ago

2023/03/28

Sahan Weerasooriya

(From left): Manesh Kajan (U-17 Captain), K. D. Y. Pathiraja (Coach), Rev. Fr. Rohitha Rodrigo (Rector, St. Peter’s), Dilshan Balasuriya (Director, Yeti) and Malik Perera (CEO, Yeti). (Pic by Kamal Wanniarachchi)

St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya teamed up with isotonic sports drink manufacturer Yeti, who will meet the hydration needs of the school tennis team during their upcoming Inter-School tournaments.

Yeti will provide the St. Peter’s Tennis Team with isotonic sports drinks to meet their hydration needs and as part of the partnership, the players will also have access to the elite Yeti portfolio of sports isotonic products.

This year, St. Peter’s will have a busy schedule as they are set to participate in several age group championships including the Inter-Schools Tennis Tournament, Inter-Schools Nationals and the Arjan Perera Tennis Tournament.

The Peterites had mixed fortunes last year as they emerged overall runners-up in the Inter-Schools Tournament and their Under-17 and Under-19 Teams reached the semi-finals of the Inter-Schools National Championships.

This time the Peterites are hoping for an improved performance with five coloursmen in the Under-20 side and four coloursmen in the Under-17 team.

Yeti isotonic fluid has been specially formulated to provide superior rehydration and provide the body the necessary water, minerals and energy lost during exercise.