Sports

Wanindu does a Botham

Published

2 years ago

2024/07/14

Thilina Walpola

Wanindu Hasaranga

By Rex Clementine

Some of the biggest stars of cricket have been flops as captains. Names like Ian Botham, Sachin Tendulkar, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Lasith Malinga were spectacular failures as captains. In sports, in general, a player’s seniority brings him the captaincy. But cricket is different. Captaining a cricket team is not merely walking in for a coin toss. It involves much more. It’s a tactical game. In most sports, coaches make the call. In cricket, captains make the call on the field of play. That’s why your best brain has to lead the side and not your best player. Sadly, in our part of the world, we do not adhere to this concept.

With The Ashes slipping away from England in 1981, Ian Botham stepped down as captain, ‘moments before he was sacked’. On Thursday Wanindu Hasaranga did a Botham ending weeks of speculation about his future as Sri Lanka’s T-20 captain.

The World Cup was bad. Wanindu made some bad calls and Sri Lanka failed to make it to the second round. So did Pakistan and New Zealand. That’s part and parcel of the game. But what was more disturbing was Wanindu’s conduct during the Lanka Premier League.

One day Wanindu was aggressive towards a young player, the next day he copped a hefty fine for using incorrect equipment. These are things that could have been avoided. The Kandy team had been apparently given a prior warning about using the wrong helmet. Everyone else fell in line the next day but not Wanindu. He repeated the offence leaving officials with Hobson’s choice but to fine him. Nobody is bigger than the game. Everyone has to fall in line.

To his credit, Wanindu did win three bilateral series though. Some people brush aside these saying there’s no point in beating Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Well, Afghanistan did make the semi-finals of the World Cup and made the Aussies and the Kiwis eat humble pie.

Wanindu did bring a few good things into the side. He stressed on fielding brilliance and running well between the wickets. He backed certain players he had picked. But he did not treat everyone equally. In any dressing room there will be differences. It is said keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Wanindu kept his enemies at quite a distance. That did not help the team’s cause.

Then, there was an altercation with the umpires. That too in a dead rubber! That landed him in trouble earning a two-match suspension. It was ugly to watch. Wanindu is not the first Sri Lankan to take on an umpire. Others did it for bigger reasons to save people’s careers. Here the captain was trying to be childish protesting over a waist high no-ball. At school when you are starting your cricket you are taught that only two people are infallible: the Pope and the umpire.

Less than a month later he repeated the offence taking on anther umpire. He was facing a four-match ban and literally out of the World Cup. Sri Lanka retained him in the Test squad and let him serve the ban during the Test series.

A third suspension means Wanindu is set to miss eight games. That is too costly affair. Furthermore, with the T-20 World Cup two years away, it is sensible to hand over the captaincy to a new leader at the start of the cycle.

Wanindu is perhaps Sri Lanka’s biggest attraction in T-20 cricket at the moment, He was just misguided. It’s a pity that there was no one to give him sound advice on how to move about things. People keep a close eye on how you move about things. Everything is good when you are winning, but when you lose, it’s hell. As Abraham Lincoln said, ‘victory has a thousand fathers, defeat is an orphan.’

All News Advertisement

Sports

Royal to meet St. Joseph’s, St. Peter’s eliminate Cambrians

Published

2 hours ago

2026/07/25

Thilina Walpola

Under 17 Division I Cricket

by Reemus Fernando

A combined bowling effort helped St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya beat Prince of Wales College Moratuwa by 55 runs and reach the pre-quarter finals of the Under 17 Division I cricket tournament on Friday.

‎Of all the knockout stage matches played on Friday, the encounter between the Petes and the Cambrians was the match that lasted the longest distance as the home team found batting resistance from number nine batsman.

‎The Cambrians foughtback after slipping to 59 for seven, on the back of a fighting 64 from Kaveesha Kithmina to bow down gracefully.

‎Batting first, St. Peter’s posted 230 for nine thanks to 76 off 113 balls by Sashidu Silva and a brisk 61 from 49 deliveries by Menura Dissanayake.Sandeepa Dananjaya was the pick of the Prince of Wales bowlers with an impressive five-wicket haul for 33 runs.

‎Most of the other knockout matches were one sided contests.

‎Royal College Colombo bundled out Wariyapola Sri Sumangala College, Kandy for a mere 44 runs to record a crushing 269 runs win and secure a pre-quarter final berth against St. Joseph’s College Darley Road.

‎Gagan Gamage (7-1-16-5) and Mahiru Kodituwakku (7-2-18-4) used the home advantage to good effect as they shared nine wickets between them to rattle the opposition within 18 overs. Batting first the Reid Avenue team amassed 313 runs for five wickets with Savain Gamage (53), Dushen Udawela (50) and Manuth Dasanayake (76) scoring half centuries.

‎Maris Stella College, Negombo, Galahitiyawa Central and St. Aloysius’ College, Galle were the other teams to enter the pre-quarter final stage on Friday.

‎St. Aloysius’ College, Galle booked a pre-quarter final berth against St. Sebastian’s College Moratuwa with a crushing seven-wicket victory over Ananda Sastralaya, Kotte.

‎Ananda Sastralaya struggled throughout their innings and were bundled out for 65 runs. Chenuka Dodangoda with a run a ball 27 was the only batsman to make a notable contribution.

‎St. Aloysius’ bowlers shared honours bowling tight spells. Hasitha Dasun produced the standout performance taking four wickets for two runs, while Manindu Pabasara supported well picking up two for seven. Yenul Nethsuka, Chethana Kularathna and Sanuda Imaya picked up a wicket each.

‎In reply, St. Aloysius made light work of the modest target, reaching 67 for 3 in just 9.4 overs. Gimhan Hansaka struck an aggressive 33 off 25 balls with seven fours to lay the foundation for victory.

‎Kavinga Dabare claimed all three wickets for Ananda Sastralaya, finishing with 3 for 9, but his effort could not prevent St. Aloysius’ from sealing the pre-quarter final berth.

‎In the other matches, Maris Stella College, Negombo beat Royal Central Polonnaruwa by five wickets and Galahitiyawa Central beat Taxila Central by six wickets.

Sports

Galle Gallants back to winning ways

Published

2 hours ago

2026/07/25

Thilina Walpola

Sahan Arachchige starred for Galle Gallants

Galle Gallants got back to the winning track after their first loss against Dambulla Sixers on 22 July to make it three wins out of four games as they outclassed Jaffna Kings by 60 runs on Thursday at the Rangiri International Stadium in Dambulla.

After all the five teams have played four games each, Galle Gallants sit atop with six points, while Kaps, Sixers and Kings have four points each. Royals have two points only.

After being asked to bat first, Gallants lost Sam Harper and Charith Asalanka early with 16 runs on the board in three overs. At this point, Chris Lynn and Chamika Karunaratne put on 48 runs with the former dominating the stand as he ended up with a 22-ball 46 before departing.

Gallants slipped to 110-6 in 14.2 overs before their top-scorer Sahan Arachchige and Mohammad Nawaz arrested the collapse with a game-changing 68-run stand off 30 balls. Arachchige hit four fours and three sixes in his 36-ball 63, while Nawaz hit two sixes and as many fours in his 27 off 16 balls.

Vijayakanth Viyaskanth hit a six off the two balls he faced as Gallants posted a strong 193-8 in 20 overs. Dilshan Madushanka and Lizaad Williams picked up two wickets each. Shakib Al Hasan, Dunith Wellalage and Mohammad Shiraz had one wicket each to their name.

In reply, Jaffna Kings’ chase never got going as they were rocked by three wickets each from Tharindu Ratnayake and Eshan Malinga. They slipped to 33-4 with Akif Javed and Dasun Shanaka also sharing a wicket each.

Only Wellalage managed to put up some fight with the bat and it was because of his 39-ball 56 that Jaffna Kings managed to salvage some pride and closed in on the loss margin. Wellalage hit four fours and as many sixes in the lost battle that he waged as Kings went from 99-8 in 12.3 overs to 133 all out with Williams unable to walk out to bat due to injury.

David Wiese was the only other batter to cross the 20-run mark as he scored 22 with the help of three fours. Ratnayake finished with three for 19 in four, Malinga with three for 13 in three, while Viyaskanth also picked up a wicket.

Brief Scores

Galle Gallants won by 60 runs

Galle Gallants: 193/8 in 20 overs

]Sahan Arachchige 63 (36), Chris Lynn 46 (22), Mohammad Nawaz 27 (16); Dilshan Madushanka 2/35 (4), Lizaad Williams 2/37 (4)

Jaffna Kings: 133/9 in 17.5 overs

[Dunith Wellalage 56 (39), David Wiese 22 (20); Eshan Malinga 3/13 (3), Tharindu Ratnayake 3/19 (4)]

Sports

Arachchige, Rathnayake and Malinga pump Jaffna

Published

20 hours ago

2026/07/24

Priyan

A 36 ball 63 by Sahan Arachchige and three wickets each by Eshan Malinga [3-13] and Tharindu Rathnayake [3-19] helped Galle Gallants defeat Jaffna Kings by 60 runs in the 10th match of the Lanka Premier League 2026. Galle Gallants lead the points table with three wins from four outings.

Scores:
Galle Gallants 193/8 in 20 overs [Chris Lynn 46, Sahan Arachchige 63, Dasun Shanaka 12, Dinura Kalupahana 10, Mohammad Nawaz 27; Mohamed Shiraz 1-23, Dunith Wellalage 1-13, Shakib Al Hasan 1-27, Dilshan Madushanaka 2-35, Lizaad Williams 2-37]

Jaffna Kings 133 in 17.5 overs [Kamil Mishara 15, Ibrahim Zadran 11, David Weise 22, Dunith Wellalage 56; Dasun Shanaka 1-21, Tharindu Rathnayake 3-19, Akif Javed 1-22, Eshan Malinga 3-13, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth 1-32]