Sri Lankan Women Cricketers Rewrote the Cricket History Books by Stunning White Ferns First Time in Any Format in Cricket.

Lankan super women Captain Chamari Athapaththu led her side to a historic 2-1 ODI home series victory over White Ferns In their first tour of Sri Lanka.  It was another disappointing result for the White Ferns against a side who didn’t qualify for last year’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand. Athapaththu led the charge almost single-handedly in First and third one day internationals by scoring unbeaten 108 of 83 balls and 140 of 80 balls respectively.  Vishmi Gunerathne and Nilakshi De Silva were well supported with the bat while Oshadi Ranasinghe helped with the ball. However, White Ferns hit back in the T20 series by winning 2-1 against Lankan women. Sri Lanka’s next assignment is traveling to England women in September 2023.

Men Cricketers easily passed the first hurdle to qualify for the 2023 Cricket World cup in India.

Sri Lankan men went to Zimbabwe with a huge pressure to qualify for this year’s ICC Cricket World cup in India. Dasun Shanaka’s men were really sharp during the qualifying stage by winning all of their matches. Wanindu Hasaranga has led the spin bowling unit claiming 22 wickets by becoming  the most scalps at the tournament along with Mahesh Theekshana playing a well supportive role to claim 21 wickets. Pathum Nissanka , Dimuth Karunarathne and Kusal Mendis did a great job with their bat. Sri Lanka beat Netherlands by 128 Runs in the finals to claim their spot in the World Cup 2023.

The 25th Asian Athletics Championship concluded on July 16th in Bangkok Thailand with the Sri Lankan team finishing 4th in the overall rankings, earning a total of 3 gold medals, 2 silver medals, and 3 bronze medals.

Tharushi Karunaratne, a promising young athlete, secured a gold medal in the Women’s 800m event. She completed the race in an impressive time of 2:00.66 minutes and her achievement was all the more exceptional as she surpassed the previous record of 2:01.20 minutes set by Gayantika Abeyratne in the Asian Athletics Championship. At just 18 years old, Tharushi is now the reigning Asian champion in both Junior and senior divisions for the 800m event.

The Men’s 4x400m relay team consisted of Aruna Darshana, Rajitha Rajakaruna, Pabasara Nikoo, and Kalinga Kumara, further enhanced Sri Lanka’s achievements by securing the second gold medal of the event. Their outstanding performance yielded not only a new national record but also a championship record, as they clocked a remarkable time of 3:01.56 minutes. This exceptional performance bolstered their prospects of qualifying for the World Championship, moving them to an impressive 12th position in the qualifying standings.

Nadeesha Ramanayake continued to shine in the Women’s 400m final by delivering a stunning performance, crossing the finish line in 52.61 seconds, earning another gold medal for the country. This achievement marked both her personal best and the third-best time ever recorded by a Sri Lankan athlete in the event.

Her gold medal is of significant importance as it is Sri Lanka’s first gold at the Asian level since she became the eighth Sri Lankan athlete to secure a gold medal at the Asian Athletics Championships, breaking a 23-year drought in the women’s 400m event.

Meanwhile, women 400×4 relay and medley relay teams won Silver medal each along with Gayantika Abeyratne also showcased her in the women’s 800m and 1500m events, securing two bronzes and Dilhani Lekamge won a Bronze in women Javelin throw. 11 out of 13 Athletes represented for the event won medals for the mother nation.

Sri Lankan Netballers crashed in the World Cup

The Asian champions had a bad world cup in South Africa by winning only one match against Barbados where they experienced heavy losses in the rest of the matches that included losing twice to Singapore, the team that they beat in the Asian finals.

However, It was a great couple of months for the motherland in sports and now everyone is looking forward to seeing the Cricket world cup 2023 in India in coming months. We wish all the best and good luck! to our Lions to bring glory to our mother nation Sri Lanka.

By Nilanga Daldeniya – Wellington