Sri Lanka ‘A’ secured a dominant victory over Ireland ‘A’ to clinch the title in their Tri-Nation Cricket final played at Abu Dhabi yesterday (April 25).

Batting first, Ireland ‘A’ were bowled out for just 200 runs in 47.3 overs.

In reply, Sri Lanka ‘A’ were in dire straits losing half of the side for just 43 runs. However, Pavan Rathnayake and Milan Rathnayake salvaged the innings, adding a match-winning unbeaten partnership worth 160 runs for the 6th wicket, sealing victory with 15.3 overs to spare.

Pavan scored 77 runs off 76 balls with 09 fours and 02 sixes while Milan hit 77 runs off 83 balls with 09 fours and 02 sixes.

Milan Rathnayake was named Player of the Final for his all-round performance, having also claimed 3 wickets for just 24 runs in the Irish innings.

Tharindu Rathnayake also stood out, taking 04 wickets for 33 runs in a key performance.

It is singular that all three Rathnayake players – Milan, Pawan, and Tharindu -were key contributors towards SL ‘A’s victory.

The team was captained by Sadeera Samarawickrama, with Avishka Gunawardene serving as head coach.

(Special reporter from Abu Dhabi ; 

Sponsored by: Sri Lankan Airlines)

Sri Lanka won another silver medal in the U18 Asian Youth Athletics Championships held in Saudi Arabia, this time in the women’s mixed relay event.

The Sri Lankan athletes clocked 2:14.25 minutes, setting a Sri Lankan youth record.

China claimed the gold medal with a time of 2:11:11 minutes, while Thailand won the bronze with a time of 2:15:00 minutes.

The four-day competition, organized by the Asian Athletics Federation, concluded yesterday (April 18) in Qatif.

Sri Lanka finished 9th in the overall medal standings,  with a total of eight medals — one gold, three silver, and four bronze. It was also one of only 19 countries to win at least one medal.

China topped the overall medal standings with 19 gold, 12 silver and 5 bronze medals while Japan came in second with 3 gold, 3 silver and one bronze medal.

Host Saudi Arabia came in third place with 3 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze medals.

Sri Lankan all-rounder Dasun Shanaka has received a call-up to join the Gujarat Titans in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, replacing the injured Glenn Phillips.

The Gujarat Titans, captained by Shubman Gill, have signed Shanaka for INR 7.5 million (over LKR 25 million).

Shanaka has played only one season of the IPL so far, when he got three games for GT, scored only 26 runs and didn’t get to bowl at all two seasons ago.

Phillips had picked up a groin injury while fielding against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Hyderabad just over ten days ago, and was later ruled out of the tournament to head back home to New Zealand.