A dazzling 178 not out against defending champion Australia has overshadowed several fine performances and the left-hander believes she showed glimpses of her two batting heroes – Kumar Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuriya, during the knock.

“I started like Sanga and ended like Sanath,” a beaming Atapattu said of her 143-ball knock in which she hit 22 fours and six sixes to help set a challenging 258-run target for Australia.

Atapattu has been around for long and even considered as Sri Lanka’s batting mainstay by many, but to see her come out with such gusto against the world’s top side was a big surprise.

Hailing from Gokarella in central Sri Lanka, Atapattu had to take over captaincy at the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2016 after Shashikala Siriwardene was ruled out of the tournament with a hamstring injury. That was a learning curve for the former captain as she learned to cope with pressure.

The 27-year-old, who has scored 1906 runs in 61 ODIs and 1001 runs in 58 T20Is, is delighted with how things have panned out and elated at her latest effort.

“I am really happy with my performance. For the first 25-30 overs, I tried to go for singles and the odd boundary. After 35 overs, when the Power Play started, I tried to hit the ball over the ropes,” she said, giving credit to coaches Hemantha Devapriya and Jeevanta Kulatunga for her development as a batter.

Atapattu made her international debut against India during the ICC World Twenty20 2009 in Taunton, not far from where she caught the attention of the entire cricketing world on Thursday with the second-highest score in all World Cup matches.

After top-scoring with 53 in her team’s tournament opener against New Zealand, Atapattu produced the scintillating knock that will be remembered for long despite her team losing to Australia by eight wickets. “I love coming back to England,” she said. “I love the conditions here and we have played a game here before so I knew what the conditions would be like.”

Her 178 not out will go alongside her centuries against Ireland and South Africa but Atapattu rates the stunning knock in Bristol as her finest accomplishment to date.

“This is my best achievement. Australia has experienced bowlers like Ellyse Perry and Megan Schutt, who also play in leagues and county matches. I trusted myself and played to my potential.”

Atapattu was encouraged by her father and inspired by cricketing icons Jayasuriya and Sangakkara, who was quick to laud her on twitter after the Bristol knock.

Atapattu though has dedicated her latest knock to her cricket-crazy father, who passed 10 years ago with a cardiac arrest when she was only 17.

“He is the hero in my life. He helped me a lot in my career. He loved cricket. He always pushed me to go and play, supported me in all aspects.

“I liked cricket, but was very lazy. He pushed me to pursue a career in the game.”

Her mother, who retired as a nurse following her father’s death, encouraged the batter to continue playing despite the bereavement. Just two years on, Atapattu would make her international debut.

Atapattu, who likes to travel and mountaineering in her spare time, started slowly in Bristol, ticking things along before exploding in the final 15 overs.

Already a big name in her home town, Atapattu wants to help women’s cricket grow in Sri Lanka.

“A lot of girls are now playing cricket in my town, a few youngsters have come to the national level. We need more girls to play to help improve our cricket. In the next year we will see two or three players come through to play in the national team.”

The 39-year-old fifth in the list of all-time Test run scorers averaging more than 57 runs in 134 Tests, making 11 double centuries is still in prime form having scored two centuries for Surrey in their match with Middlesex which finished on Monday.

However, Sangakkara also one of the all-time great limited overs batsmen and a member of the Sri Lanka side that reached both the 2007 and 2011 World Cup finals (losing to Australia and India respectively) said he could sense the time was right to retire.

“You try to fight the inevitable but you need to get out while you’re ahead,” Sangakkara, who was a pivotal member of the Sri Lanka team that lifted the 2014 World Twenty20 trophy and lost in both the 2009 and 2012 finals, told the BBC.

“It’s the last time I’ll play a four-day game here. I’ll be 40 in a few months, this is about the end of my time in county cricket.”

Sangakkara, who formed a swashbuckling partnership on many occasions with fellow Sri Lankan legend Mahela Jayawardene, said he didn’t want to make the error of overstaying his welcome.

“The biggest mistake that sometimes you can make is that you think you’re better than you really are,” he said.

“Cricketers, or any sort of sportsperson, have an expiry date and you need to walk away.

“I have been very lucky to play for as long as I did so but there’s a lot more life to be lived away from the game.” AFP

English county scores

on Monday: First Division

* At Old Trafford: Lancashire (10pts) drew with Yorkshire (9pts)

Yorkshire 448-8 dec (J Leaning 118, J Brooks 109 no, G Ballance 74, T Bailey 4-116) & 177-1 (P Handscomb 101 no, A Lees 62 no) v Lancashire 432 (S Chanderpaul 106, R McLaren 84, S C Kerrigan 59)

* At Lord’s: Middlesex (13pts) drew with Surrey (11pts)

Surrey 313 (K Sangakkara 114, D Sibley 54, J Franklin 4-40) & 339 (K Sangakkara 120, B Foakes 67 no, S Curran 51, T Roland-Jones 4-76) v Middlesex 411 (D Malan 115, J Franklin 112, S Eskinazi 67, S Meaker 4-92) & 92-2

* At Taunton: Somerset (8pts) drew with Warwickshire (12pts)

Warwickshire 413 (J Trott 175, T Ambrose 63, R Clarke 57) v Somerset 230 (M Trescothick 106, P Trego 52, G Thornton 4-34) & 86-1

Second Division (second day of four)

* At Hove

Durham 287 (P Coughlin 73, R Pringle 60, J Archer 5-76) v Sussex 452-4 (L Wells 258, S van Zyl 141 no)

* At Derby: Worcestershire (24pts) beat Derbyshire (5pts) by an innings and 42 runs

Derbyshire 275 (L Reece 54, A Hughes 53, J Leach 4-50) & 98 (J Leach 5-32) v Worcestershire 415-9 dec (B D’Oliveira 150, D Mitchell 120, S Thakor 4-45, B Mendis 4-98)

* At the SWALEC Stadium: Glamorgan (7pts) drew with Nottinghamshire (12pts)

Nottinghamshire 448 (M Wessels 120, J Libby 109, C Read 88, B Hutton 61, T van der Gugten 5-101) v Glamorgan 187 (A Donald 53) & 420-5 (C Ingram 155 no, C Cooke 113 no)

* At Grace Road: Leicestershire (13pts) drew with Kent (13pts)

Leicestershire 420 (C Ackermann 89, C McKay 66) & 61-1 dec v Kent 462-9 dec (D Stevens 100, A Rouse 60, M Coles 56 no, J Tredwell 55, D Klein 4-108)

Sangakkara’s half century coupled with M Stoneman’s knock of 165 saw Surrey reach 454.

Warwickshire were then bowled out for 91 with M Footitt taking six wickets for 14 runs. Forced to follow-on Warwickshire were spared the blushes by England batsman Jonathan Trott as his excellent unbeaten 141 helped the Bears fight back to take their game into a fourth day closing on 322-7.

However Surrey took less than an hour on the final morning to wrap up a season-opening victory over Warwickshire by an innings and one run on Monday.

After resuming 41 behind, the Bears’ hopes of saving the game pretty much rested on Trott.

But Tom Curran broke through, trapping Jeetan Patel lbw – and Trott added just 10 to his score before holing out off Mark Footitt for 151.

Chris Wright was then bowled by Curran as Warwickshire were all out for 362.

Having opened up with a 23-point haul, Surrey’s next game is also at home against Lancashire, starting on Good Friday.

Other results:

* At Headingley:

Yorkshire 273 (G Ballance 120) and 187 (G Ballance 55, A Hodd 54 no, K Abbott 7-41) v Hampshire 141 (B Coad 6-37, T Bresnan 4-53) and 321-6 (J Adams 72)

Hampshire (19pts) beat Yorkshire (5pts) by 4 wkts

Division Two

* At Canterbury: Kent 298 (J Denly 62, D Stevens 50) and 246 (J Denly 59, W Gidman 51, L Norwell 5-59) v

Gloucestershire 149 (C Dent 67, M Claydon 4-35) and 61 (D Stevens 6-22)

Kent (21pts) beat

Gloucestershire (3pts) by 334 runs

* At Grace Road: Leicestershire 251 (M Cosgrove 57, B Raine 55 no) and 81 (J Pattinson 5-29, L Fletcher 4-35) v

Nottinghamshire 329 (J Pattinson 89 no, S Broad 52, B Raine 6-66) and 9-0

Nottinghamshire (22pts) beat Leicestershire (5pts) by 10 wkts.

Thanks largely to Mendis’ monumental innings supported by half-centuries from Niroshan Dickwella and Dilruwan Perera, Sri Lanka reached a total of 494, although they would have been far happier if they had crossed the 500-run mark.

Niroshan Dickwella pulls a delivery to the leg boundary during his innings of 75.

Ironically it was the two half-centurions who were responsible for giving the Bangladesh openers early lives that enabled them to finish the day at 133 for two wickets – still 361 runs behind.

Perera put down a simple catch at gully offered by Soumya Sarkar at four and Dickwella missed Tamim Iqbal behind the wicket at 28. Those two lapses enabled the openers to put up a century partnership before Tamim threw away his wicket attempting an impossible single and getting run out for 57.

Sri Lanka soon followed with the wicket of Mominul Haque for seven when Perera compensated for his early lapse with a wicket by trapping him plumb in front.

Sarkar however lived to fight another day finishing on 66 not out with his skipper Mushfiqur Rahim on one.

The pitch had slowed down from what it was on the first day and the key to today will be the left-arm chinaman deliveries of Lakshan Sandakan who really made the Bangladesh batsmen jump around in the final session’s play.

Mendis’s extravagance cost him a maiden Test double century when he attempted to reach it with a six and eventually holed out to long-on. The catch was held on the boundary line by Tamim Iqbal giving Mehedi Hasan his second wicket of the innings.

The 19-year-old off-spinning sensation who bowled Bangladesh to their maiden Test win over England at Dhaka last October finished as the best Bangladesh bowler with four wickets for 113.

Dickwella batted aggressively for his second Test fifty scoring 75 off 76 balls with six fours and a six and Perera followed with his third Test half century (51) off 77 balls with seven fours and a six.

Dickwella helped Mendis add 110 for the fifth wicket before the latter’s dismissal for 194 scored off 225 balls with 19 fours and four sixes.

Mendis is the sixth Sri Lankan batsman to be dismissed in the 190s after Sidath Wettimuny, Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan.

GALLE: When Kusal Mendis inside edged a catch behind the wicket off the first ball he received and was given a reprieve by the head umpire who ruled that delivery a no-ball as the bowler Subash Roy had overstepped the crease he would have known that Lady Luck was certainly on his side.
Kusal Mendis celebrates his century on the first day of the first Test against Bangladesh at the Galle International Stadium yesterday. (Pix by Saman Mendis)

Following that awful first shot he played that nearly cost him his wicket Mendis from there onwards hardly put a foot wrong as he made his way towards his second Test century in 15 matches to put Sri Lanka in a much firmer footing than they were at one stage at the end of the first day of the first Test against Bangladesh played at the Galle International Stadium yesterday.

It was Mendis’ brilliant knock of 176 that paved the way for Sri Lanka’s 3-0 sweep of Australia in their last home series in July 2015, and it has taken him another seven months to notch up his second hundred at the highest level.

The way he is going he is certain to end up with another big score which could be the decisive factor in determining which way the series would go. Mendis was unbeaten on 166 at stumps having batted for 362 minutes and hit 18 fours and two sixes in his 242-ball innings with Niroshan Dickwella on 14.

At 149 Mendis passed 1000 Test runs – the 31st Sri Lankan player to do so and with Gunaratne, he shared a new fourth wicket partnership of 196 off 261 balls against Bangladesh erasing the previous highest of 150 by Kumar Sangakkara and Aravinda de Silva at the P Sara Oval in 2002.

Mendis of whom everyone expects big things was all class as he settled down to play some glorious pulls, drives and sweeps, mainly on the leg side where he collected 99 of his 166 runs.

Gunaratne continued his golden run with the bat and was unfortunate to be dismissed for 85 when he dragged a wide ball that could have been left alone onto his stumps. He had seven fours in his 134-ball knock of 85.

Mendis and Gunaratne raised the batting tempo during their partnership after Sri Lanka had scored only 61 runs in the first session of play so that by the day’s end the total had exceeded 300.

The final session of play produced 166 runs as the Lankan batsmen made capital out of the tired Bangladesh bowlers on a very hot day that saw the support staff bring out a giant umbrella to provide shade to the players during the drinks breaks.

The two batsmen Sri Lanka were banking on to score heavily Dimuth Karunaratne and Dinesh Chandimal both failed. Karunaratne coming to this Test on the back of a double century scored against England Lions in the unofficial test at Dambulla made 30 before chopping the ball onto his stumps.

Chandimal having scored an unbeaten 190 against this bowling attack for Sri Lanka President’s XI in the two-day warm-up match was strangely subdued scratching around 54 balls for five before dot balls brought about his downfall got the better of him and his expansive drive ended up in gully’s hands.

Upul Tharanga never looked a Test opener with his poor technique and it was no surprise when he was beaten all ends up by a delivery from Subash Roy that ripped through his defence and shattered his stumps in the sixth over of the day.

Sri Lanka strengthened their bowling attack for this Test going in with five specialist bowlers that included three spinners for the expense of a batsman Dhananjaya de Silva. Bangladesh also opted for five specialist bowlers but included three seamers instead.

It required just two good knocks – both of them top drawer stuff against the Aussies to catch the attention of the cricket world… and unknown Asela Gunaratne is suddenly the most sought after cricketer today.

The good news is that Gunaratne had become a hot “buy” at the IPL auction held yesterday and was quickly snapped up by Mumbai Indians for Indian Rupees 30 lakhs. Gunaratne will be in the company of Sri Lanka’s top one-day fast bowler Lasith Malinga who also represents the same franchise. The only other Sri Lanka cricketer who was successful at yesterday’s auction was national captain Angelo Mathews who was purchased by Delhi Daredevils for Indian Rupees 2 crore. The tenth edition of IPL is slated to commence on April 5 with eight franchises in the running for the title.

Gunaratne is not a name that comes to mind when someone talks about potential big signings the IPL is renowned for but he beat some of his celebrated colleagues like Dinesh Chandimal, Kusal Perera, Niroshan Dickwella and Thisara Perera who all went unsold at the auction. At 31 years of age and just 17 international games under his belt, Gunaratne is a cricketer who has been pretty late for the party but nevertheless as the saying goes “it’s never too late”.

The right-hander had scored two consecutive match-winning fifties in the two T20Is against Australia. While his 37-ball 52 paved the way for a thrilling five-wicket victory in the first T20I at Melbourne, Gunaratne’s unbeaten 46-ball 84 in the second T20I at Geelong helped Sri Lanka to seal the three-match series 2-0. It was his exploits in the second T20I that arguably made him a prized-possession for any IPL franchise.

Coming to the crease at 37-3, Gunaratne looked to attack from the outset, taking a particular liking to the bowling of debutant Jhye Richardson as he kept the tourists in the run-chase despite a regular fall of wickets at the other end.

It was starting to look like mission impossible for Sri Lanka when the equation was 48 runs needed off 18 balls, but Gunaratne launched at exactly the right moment, striking two boundaries off the 18th over before launching at Moises Henriques with the next, blasting 22 runs in the form of three sixes and a four. Suddenly, Sri Lanka needed just 14 off 6, and boy, did the soldier from the Sri Lanka Army polish it off in style, finishing the match with a cracking four off the last delivery.

Gunaratne smashed five sixes and six fours in his breath-taking innings. Thanks to his blitz, Sri Lanka secured their third successive T20 series win in Australia.

Gets picked by Mumbai Indians for his maiden IPL

THE POWER OF GUNARATNE

Gunaratne’s amazing scoring rate for his unbeaten 84 not out was as follows:

•24•11•211•11114212•16412•1•11••2111•666•446144.

He scored 47 off his first 37 balls and 37 off his last 11.

Praise From The Greats

Amongst the top cricketers showering praise on Gunaratne’s fairytale knock were former Sri Lanka skippers Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara and Sanath Jayasuriya and Michael Vaughan of England.

Here are their comments and of others that appeared on Twitter:

Mahela Jayawardene:

Wow… Asela Gunaratne. Take a bow! Amazing finish. Well done boys.

Kumar Sangakkara:

The best t20 ever played by Sri Lanka. What a win. Take a bow Asela. Probably the best knock under pressure. So proud.

Sanath Jayasuriya:

Congrats Upul & boys on a stunning victory & series win. what an absolute beauty of an inns from Asela. You boys made me so happy

Michael Vaughan:

That was a lovely way to spend a Sunday morning ….. The Aussies being Walloped …. #AusvSL #Gunaratne is my new hero….

Dinesh Chandimal:

Very weldone team srilanka what a victory. Asela you beauty what an inning it was top class buddy

Thilan Samaraweera:

What a phenomenal innings!! Great knock Asela Gunarathna

Angelo Mathews:

What a knock !!absolute genius. One of the best knocks in t20. Asela u beauty. kapu played a good hand too. congratulations boys

Rangana Herath:

Very well played Asela, one of the great T20 innings, congratulations to the boys for winning the tournament

Farveez Maharoof:

What a win special mention to asela for the unbelievable knock.. congratulations all involved! Another series win in Australia

Dhammika Prasad:

Unbelievable knock from asela. Wat a game boys. Congrats. Wel done.

“Everyone goes through a bad patch sometimes it is best to give it a break, a few weeks from cricket,” said Gunawardene who watched Thirimanne struggling to get runs on the board in the recently concluded three-match unofficial test series for Sri Lanka A against West Indies A.

Thirimanne managed just 59 runs from six innings with a top score of 27 to average a poor 9.83.

The series flop was just another continuation of his alarming slump in form since June 2014. In 16 Tests (31 innings) since then Thirimanne has crossed the fifty mark only twice (highest score 62 n.o.) and averages 18.27.

“Sometimes when you do wrong things and when you take a break you forget them. You basically tend to forget what you are doing wrong and you come out fresh,” said Gunawardene who watched Thirimanne at close quarters during the West Indies A series.

“Thirimanne needs to take his mind off cricket and take a break. There is hardly anything wrong with his technique it is probably more mental than technique you could see when you talk to him,” said Gunawardene.

“In the 4-day game he dropped a few chances and it’s all to do with confidence. His confidence level is a little down. He tried to defend while batting and he got out and in the second innings he tried to attack and still got out. He is just going through a bad patch and needs to have a few weeks break.

“Thirimanne is a very good player and we all know he is capable of big innings. To me he just needs to get out and take a break for a couple of weeks and come out with a fresh mind,” Gunawardene said.

“It’s a good opportunity for him in the upcoming domestic season to go and get back into form, score some big runs and get his confidence and rhythm back.”

The 27-year-old left-hander who broke into the international circuit in 2011 was tipped to play the role of number three in the Sri Lankan batting line-up after the retirement of Kumar Sangakkara, a position he has so far not fulfilled.

Kandy Cricket

After many years, something admirable and which should be appreciated happened, thanks to the new president of the CPCA Sarath Ekanayake the Chief Minister and able secretary Janaka Pathirana. They saw to the successful end of the Division III cricket tournament in which Old Rajans CC under the captaincy of Sumil Ranasinghe emerged as champions and are sure to be promoted to the next level. At one time when sportsmen and enthusiasts like Dr. C.D. L Fernando and Harindra Dunuwille controlled cricket it was at its best.

Kandy Hockey

The game at top level is apparently in the lad of nod still with no club tournaments, but it should be said that schools are doing well especially the girls, who are dominating the game but at club level it is a dead story. Who is to be blamed other than the KDHA and why is the main controlling body not pushing them to play hockey? Only during the AGM that they become active. Everyone who loves hockey is waiting eagerly for the revival of club hockey. The conducting of organized tournaments in Kandy is nil. The Kandy District Hockey Association today is like a ship sans a rudder. A great effort is needed to bring club hockey in Kandy back to the glorious years it enjoyed in the past. This sport reached great heights when it was under people like P.T. Rajan, the man who introduced illustrious men like, M.S. Jainudeen, V.D. Paul Raj, J.O. Mendis Dr. A. Samad Ismail, Douglas Bartholomeusz, F.H.B. Wood, Sam Elhart, Victor Ratnawale, H.W. Bobby Jayaweera, P. Thangavelu, Philip Buultjens, G.H. Robinson, George Mant, K. de Lanerolle, W. Rupasinhe, Roy de Silva and Lakshman Seneviratne who promoted the game to reach great heights. The hockey-loving public in Kandy humbly appeals to the Sports Minister to investigate into the plight of hockey in Kandy and put things in order for its revival.

Kandy Football

Football is known to be the poor man’s game, but today the game seems to be dying a natural death which is sad. Today Kandy’s club football is in the funeral parlor. The question is who is fooling whom? At football Kandy has become the laughing stock. The football lovers in Kandy are disappointed. The last time when Kandy football flourished was during the time of Bodhi Liyanage’s leadership as president. For the first time Kandy became Inter league champions and also made its first overseas tour. The man who should take the blame is FFSL president of the years 2010-12 for letting down Kandy football when it was at its best. He dissolved the league and from here onwards the game went to ruin. This person for the third time was elected sans an election. He had sought special permission from the Minister of Sport as he was contesting for a third year in succession.

Kandy Rugby

Rugby is the most popular club game in Kandy. For the last two decades Kandy Sports Club has been dominating by winning the league 17 times since 1994 and knockouts 20 times since 1992. They have also won the 7’s on many occasions from 1999 and the President’s trophy on many occasions. Today Kandy is nothing without rugby at club level. Last season they became the triple champions. Schools rugby however is on a sad note for out of the nine schools only three are playing in Division I of which one school is suspend for bad behavior at a match till next February. By the time the suspension is over half the season would be complete. All schools are blessed with at least three coaches, what they lack is proper guidance.

SLC should give a hand to Asgiriya

The Asgiriya International Stadium, located in the heart of Sri Lanka’s hill-country, is the home ground of Trinity College, one of the most prestigious schools in Sri Lanka. Given the lack of flat space in central Sri Lanka, the ground was carved straight out of the hill behind the pavilion before being leveled by ten feet, and so the end result was one of the most beautiful venues on earth. Access is from the main town, which lies below. This was the main venue for international matches in Kandy before the Pallekelle Stadium was built. Today the school is unable to spend on the maintenance of the ground and is looking for help from SLC. The stadium, has hosted 19 Tests and 6 one-day games since it was first used for official international cricket in 1983.

Kandy Public Services Club 6-a-side cricket

The 70 year old Kandy Public Services Club will hold a 6-a-side cricket tournament today (Saturday) at the Police grounds matting wicket. The winners will receive the Sir Richard Aluwihare memorial trophy. Kandy Public Services Club took part in the inaugural inter club Central Province Cricket tournament in 1946. The teams taking part are Education Department, Kandy Public Services Club, Kandy Municipal Council Playgrounds Section, two teams each and one team each from Provincial Health Department, Kandy Hospital Doctors, Excise Department and Kandy Police. The tournament organizing committee is headed by Dr. H.M.W.D. Hearth and one of the senior hands in the club Walter Ranasinghe who is the secretary of the club.

Seethadevi on top at Blue and Gold hockey 7’s

Seethadevi BMV, who have been dominating girls hockey, due to the keenness of the players, parents and the school emerged as the Girls champions at the Blue and Gold Sevens hockey tournament organized and conducted by the Royal College Hockey Club. In the boy’s event schools like Dharmaraja, Kingswood, Trinity, Vidyartha, St. Sylvester’s and Wariyapola Sri Sumangala took part. In the girls event there was Kandy Girls High School, Gothami BV, Pushpadana Girls College, Seethadfavi BMV and St. Anthony’s Girls College. This was the 14th edition of the tournament and 35 boys and 20 girls’ schools took part.

Under 13 cricket

Under the leadership of Akram Muthalib, Trinity College under 13 “A” side has achieved their best. They have completed six games and will play in the second round. Muthalib who is their opening batsman is shaping up well with the bat. A left-hander he scored 98 vs Wariyapola Sri Sumangala, 51 vs St Anne’s and 58 vs Royal College Polonaruwa. Their main batsman has been Rhala Amarasinghe, the only centurion.

He has scored 118 vs Wickramashila College Giriulla, 88 vs Joseph Vas Wennappuwa, 68 n.o. vs Polonnaruwa Royal College and 46 against Wariyapola Sri Sumangala Kandy. In the bowling off spinner Dineka Ehelepola has taken 7 for 15 runs and 3 for 19 against Wickramashila College, 3 for 54 against Dharmaraja College, 4 for 16 and 4 for 27 against Polonnaruwa Royal College.

Walala A Ratnayake retains trophy

Walala A. Ratnayake Central College retained the girl’s championship at the National School Games Athletics meet which was held at the Bogambara Stadium. Once again this school has made Kandy district proud, they pocketed 159.0 points to emerge overall girls champions for the fourteenth successive year. A big hand should go to the participants, their parents, coaches and the school staff who are involved in this sport.

SLRFU/CPRFU Rugby training in Kandy

In Kandy on October 28, 29 and 30 the SLRFU and CPRFU will be conducting a training education programme for coaches and match officials.

The coach’s part will be handled by one of the most qualified person in the subject Nihal “Viper” Gunaratne and Match Officials part will be handled by one of the top referees in the country Anil Jayasinghe.

On the first day it will be level one match official’s programme, on day two it will be rugby read course for both coaches and match officials and training for coaches. On the third day it will be level one course for coaches.

Nico gives way to Kumar at OTSC

The Old Trinitians Sports Club who celebrated their silver jubilee last year had their AGM and Nico de Silva a senior hand and a man who gave his best to the club as president for two occasions has given way to Kumar Dias de Singe who played rugby for Trinity. Nico was a famous ruggerite and played for CH and FC, Havelock SC, KV and Kandy SC.

Under 12–13 Rugby Carnival

The Schools Rugby Carnival is the largest under 12s and 13s rugby carnival held in the country. Each year this event attracts over 1250 young rugby enthusiasts and their coaches, along with committed families and supporters, who make the tournament enjoyable.

All the Kandy schools Vidyartha, St. Sylvester’s, Trinity, St. Anthony’s, Nugawella Central and Dharmaraja were seen in action. It was sad that Kingswood was not among the schools who took part.

Speaking at the opening ceremony Guest of Honour Kumar Sangakkara stressed the importance of this tournament stating that this is in fact the hallmark stepping stone for budding young cricketers in the north and east to showcase their talents and compete at a higher level.

Sangakkara has been a part of the Murali Harmony Cup since its inception and made it a point to elaborate on the fact that teams should not just look at this as yet another T20 Cricket Competition but also grasp the concept of this tournament.

He said it was “important for teams to engage with the spirits in which the tournament is played” by spreading friendship and camaraderie throughout the competition.

The tournament begins on 21st of September 2016 across venues in Kilinochchi, Mankulam, Oddusuddan and Jaffna while the final will take place on the 25th of this month at the Kilinochchi Central College Grounds. Kumar Sangakkara will be joined by fellow cricketing legends Mahela Jayawardena and Muthiah Muralidaran during the course of the tournament.