Business Management School (BMS) from Sri Lanka, University of Sydney, Australia, University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB), Loughborough University of England, Marathwada Mitra Mandal College of Commerce (MMCC College) Pune from India, University Of Central Punjab, Lahore from Pakistan, Assupol TuksCricket, University of Pretoria from South Africa and Heriot Watt University, Dubai from United Arab Emirates, are the eight teams qualified to play in this year’s world finals after being qualified through national competitions conducted in relevant countries.

Assupol Tuks Cricket (University of Pretoria) of South Africa who won the last two finals in 2014 and 2015 will undoubtedly make every endeavor to win it for the third consecutive year in order to accomplish a hat-trick. While England’s Loughborough University will be looking for a revenge after losing the final last year. Business Management School (BMS) representing Sri Lanka in this grand final will no doubt be a threat to the other teams in the finals as they have the advantage of home conditions.

The eight teams will be divided into two groups at four apiece at the group stage, according to the tournament draw due on September 4th, 2016. The group stage matches will be played in Colombo from September 5th -7th, at the headquarters of Sri Lankan cricket, the Sinhalese Sports Club, and at the adjacent Nondescripts Cricket Club followed by the semi-finals and final which will take place at the Galle International Stadium on September 10th and 11th respectively.

The competition this year will see the trial of a new Energizer Over, where the runs for one over per side, tactically nominated by the batting team at any point after the Power-play overs, will count double. Any wickets taken during that over will cost the batting side 5 penalty runs.

Brendon Kuruppu, tournament director and former Sri Lanka cricketer stated that; it is a unique opportunity for the outstanding cricketers around the world to show their skills and talent. Furthermore, he stated that the tournament had become one of the most important tournaments to the host county Sri Lanka, since the players representing their colleges had shown their talents in the finals in their country, previous week.

Shehan Jayasuriya, Niroshan Dickwella and Dasun Shanaka playing for the BMS, (Colombo), are few of them. He further stated that it’s undoubtedly the same around the world and concluded that 2016 is the hardest battle fought.

Stafford Motors ‘’Champs of MCA Division G’’

Stafford Motors clinched the MCA Div G 25 over championship by 8 wickets as experienced Sanjaya Gangodawila cracked 69 after Pramesh Fernando led Stafford bowling attack restricted the Palliyaguruge group for 137.

Batting first after winning the toss Palliyaguruge group was bowled out in 23.4 overs for a score of 137. Pramesh Fernando and Shanaka Sampath shared 7 wickets between them being the main destroyers for Stafford Motors.

Stafford chased down the target down with ease losing only 2 wickets as Sanjaya Gangodawila top scored with 69. Asantha Singappuli made his contributions with an unbeaten 36 as Stafford for crowned MCA G division champs at the MCA grounds a short while ago.

Australian captain Steve Smith attempts to pull a short ball on the second day of the 3-day practice match against a Sri Lanka Board President’s XI at the P Sara Oval yesterday.

Resuming at their overnight score of 127 for one wicket Australia ended the day on 431-9 to lead the home side by 202 runs. The Board team made 229 in their first innings and face an uphill task of saving the match having to probably bat out the entire third day.

Their chances of doing that have already been handicapped by the injury to opening bat Madawa Warnapura who has been ruled out of the match with a dislocated left shoulder.

Warnapura dived at short mid wicket to try and stop a shot from Australian captain Steve Smith and in that attempt dislocated his shoulder which was later relocated.

However the local team’s manager cum coach Piyal Wijetunge said that Warnapura would be out for at least three weeks and would take no further part in the match.

In Warnapura’s absence, Wijetunge said that either wicket-keeper batsman Manoj Sarathchandra or Shehan Jayasuriya would open the batting with Oshada Fernando in the second innings.

“We’ll have to see whether Manoj is fit enough to open after having kept wickets for 122 overs, otherwise our second option is to open with Shehan,” said Wijetunge.

Sri Lanka cap Jayasuriya distinguished himself yesterday as a useful off-spinner picking up five Australian wickets for 109 off 29 overs. He was the pick of the home team bowlers even though there some impressive spells from quicks like Vimukthi Perera, Tharaka Gamage and Dasun Shanaka.

If at all the Aussies were unhappy about was that none of their batters went onto make a big score. Top scorer for them was opener Joe Burns with 72 while Steve Smith (57), Adam Voges (43) and later in the day Steve O’Keefe (62 n.o.) and Mitchell Starc (45) helped themselves to some useful runs to boost the total beyond the 400-run mark.

“The one disappointment to come out of the day was all our batters spent some time at the crease but no one went on to get a big score,” said Burns at the end of the day.

‘We talked about as a batting group that we try and be patient for long periods on the subcontinent. If they bowl good areas it’s just tough work, tough to score and slow going and you have to be committed to bat all day.

“I thought the opposition bowlers bowled quite well especially because it was a long day and some hot periods. As a batting group we are prepared to bat long hours in the middle. Hopefully we can bat for extended periods during the Test series,” he said.

Burns who scored 72 off 131 balls said that he ready for the Test series. “I felt really good the last few weeks went to Chennai before the tour had plenty of batting under my belt and I am ready to go for the Test series. It’s always nice to get some match experience, transfer what you are doing in the nets to a competitive environment in a first-class game and get as much confidence as possible for the three test matches.”

Burns was confident that Australia can push for a win today especially with the bowling line-up they have.

“Obviously we want to come out tomorrow and try and get a win. The skills our bowlers have – quick and spin bowlers can pose a threat,” said Burns.

“We have a bowling attack that can pose a threat in these conditions with reverse swing or spin. That’s a chance for our group to keep posing to the opposition batters.”

The full list of players short-listed for the auctions has been released. It includes 130 capped players, 219 uncapped players and two from Associate Nations.

Out of these, 230 are Indians and 121 foreigners. The list was trimmed down from the original list of 714 cricketers who had given their names for the IPL auctions.

29 Australian capped cricketers have been short-listed for the auction. They are followed by players from India (26), West Indies (20), South Africa (18), Sri Lanka (16), New Zealand, (9), England (7) and Bangladesh (5).

Yuvraj Singh, Kevin Pietersen, Ashish Nehra, Shane Watson, Ishant Sharma, Sanju Samson, Dinesh Karthik, Stuart Binny and Dhawal Kulkarni are among the cricketers who have been listed with a base price of Rs 2 Crore (the highest base price bracket).

Yuvraj, who was left out of Delhi Daredevils, had fetched the highest price in the last two IPL auctions. Having returned to the national fold ahead of the ICC World T20, he is likely to attract a high bid in the upcoming auction.

Delhi Daredevils, who have released some of their biggest buys from the previous season – Yuvraj Singh and Angelo Mathews have the heaviest purse going into the auction – Rs 37.15 crore. They are followed by Sunrisers Hyderabad, who have Rs 30.15 crore going into the auction. The two new franchises – Rising Pune Super Giants and Rajkot are joint-third on the list with Rs 27 crore each in their kitty.

Kings XI Punjab (Rs 23 crore), Royal Challengers Bangalore (Rs 21.625 crore) and Kolkata Knight Riders (Rs 17.95 crore) follow them on the list. Defending champions Mumbai Indians, seem settled with the unit that played last year. They released 10 players from the contract list and have Rs 14.405 crore going into the auction.

T20 captain Lasith Malinga is the only Sri Lankan retained by a franchise (Mumbai Indians) in the IPL.

Sri Lanka players –

Mahela Jayawardene, Lahiru Thirimanne, Nuwan Kulasekera, Ajantha Mendis, Sachitra Senanayake, Dushmantha Chameera, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Thisara Perera, Jeevan Mendis, Dilruwan Perera, Shehan Jayasuriya, Dasun Shanaka, Milinda Siriwardana, Isuru Udana, Dilshan Munaweera, Seekkuge Prasanna

The loss was Sri Lanka ninth at this venue in 10 matches, the solitary win coming in 2012 against Pakistan by 16 runs. It was at this venue that Sri Lanka lost the World T20 final to West Indies in 2012.

The win gave Darren Sammy’s West Indies team their first success of a five-week tour that saw them lose the Test series (0-2) and the ODI series (0-3).

Sammy’s pre-match wish to return home with a win was fulfilled by fast bowlers Ravi Rampaul and Man of the Match Dwayne Bravo who between them took seven wickets as Sri Lanka suffered a batting collapse losing nine wickets for 46 runs after being strongly placed at 93-1 in the 13th over. West Indies bowled and fielded brilliantly to defend their total of 162 and dismissed Sri Lanka for 139 off the final ball of the match.

Top scorer for Sri Lanka was veteran opener Tillakaratne Dilshan with 52 off 38 balls. Shehan Jayasuriya made 30 but the rest of the batting disappointed as the West Indies tightened their grip on the game following the dismissal of Dilshan at 102 in the 14th over. Rampaul’s double strike in the 14th over pegged Sri Lanka back and they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Rampaul sent back Dinesh Chandimal for one and Dilshan both caught in the deep before Bravo got into the act to ensure there was no late recovery by the Lankans.

Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekera kept things tight for the first four overs conceding just 17 runs when the first bowling – Sachitra Senanayake brought a flurry of runs and got West Indies moving into top gear. Johnson Charles dismissed without scoring at Pallekele greeted Senanayake by clobbering him for 22 runs off his first over inclusive of three sixes and one four.

Dushmantha Chameera also suffered the same fate going for 22 in his first over where he was unlucky to have Fletcher (16) dropped at cover by Shehan Jayasuriya. The batting power play produced 61 runs off the first six overs.

Jayasuriya however offset the lapse in the following over with a brilliant piece of fielding on the fine leg boundary to run out Marlon Samuels for one with a direct hit.

With Fletcher and Charles looking extremely dangerous in their partnership which had raised 62 off 6.2 overs it was the man with the golden arm Milinda Siriwardana whom skipper Lasith Malinga had to turn to for the breakthrough. Siriwardana trapped both openers lbw off successive overs to check the West Indies run flow. When Dushmantha Chameera had Andre Russell caught at deep fine leg by Dinesh Chandimal West Indies were 97-4 in the 12th over.

Contributions of 31 and 34 not out from Dwayne Bravo and Denesh Ramdin respectively gave West Indies a decent total of 162 to defend.

A slim and fit Malinga bowling with his usual fire and Siriwardana were the pick of the Lankan bowlers claiming two wickets apiece.

The Sri Lanka players wore yellow arm bands as a mark of respect to Most Ven. Maduluwawe Sobitha Thera.

Sri Lanka made 215-3 after the West Indies won the toss and opted to field at the Pallekele International Cricket Stadium. The start of the match was delayed by over an hour due to rain, and when play finally got under way all of Sri Lanka’s top-order batsmen were in fine form.

Dilshan hit eight fours on his way to notching 56 while left-handed opener Kusal Perera scored 40 before being caught by Darren Sammy off burly bowler Kieron Pollard for the fall of the first wicket. Right-handed Dilshan walked soon afterwards when he attempted a reverse sweep and completely missed the ball — Pollard’s second wicket of the night.

Shehan Jayasuriya was on 36 when he was caught and bowled by Sunil Narine.
At the end of the 20 overs Dinesh Chandimal was on 40 while Angelo Mathews was 37 not out, leaving the West Indies chasing a difficult target of 216.

“Thanks to all the batsmen,” said Sri Lanka captain Lasith Malinga.

“They realised these conditions are hard to bowl in and they put up a good total for us.”

The visitors’ chase got off to the worst possible start when opener Johnson Charles was bowled out by Malinga for a duck.

Andre Fletcher tried his best to see that the West Indies at least had a fighting chance, scoring an impressive 57 that included a whopping six sixes. Dwayne Bravo and Pollard raced to 24 and 26 respectively, hitting two fours and two sixes each and for a moment it looked as though the match would go to the wire. But several key wickets fell quickly with Senanayake taking Bravo, Sammy and Jason Holder to add to his earlier wicket of Marlon Samuels.

Milinda Siriwardana took two wickets and Malinga grabbed his second of the night as the West Indies were bowled out for 185 in the final over.

“Well played to Sri Lanka, they posted a very big total, 200 is always difficult to chase down,” said West Indies captain Sammy. “We kept losing wickets in clusters and that slowed us down,” he added. The two sides will play the second and final T20 in Colombo on Wednesday. Sri Lanka will be seeking a clean sweep after they won the three-match one-day international series 3-0.

They also won the preceding Test series without loss, taking it 2-0. (AFP)

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has invited 25 of Sri Lanka’s top cricketers for the BPL, but Sri Lanka Cricket interim committee has taken a decision not to grant them permission to participate as they want the players to be focussed on the upcoming tour of New Zealand starting next month.

The list of players invited includes those from the National, ‘A’ and T20 teams who will be involved in matches during the New Zealand tour.

Those invited are: Chamara Kapugedera, Dilshan Munaweera, Shehan Jayasuriya, Isuru Udana, Dilruwan Perera, Chaturanga de Silva, Farveez Maharoof, Dhananjaya de Silva, Dhammika Prasad, Milinda Siriwardana, Tharanga Paranavitana, Kosala Kulasekara, Binura Fernando, Ajantha Mendis, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kituruwan Vithanage, Niroshan Dickwella, Prasanna Jayawardene, Ashan Priyanjan, Sachith Pathirana, Sachitra Senanayake, Nuwan Kulasekara, Seekkuge Prasanna, Upul Tharanga, Jeevan Mendis.

“We have not approved the players contracted to us centrally and provincially because we have an important tour of New Zealand coming up and want them to be fully concentrated on it,” said Sri Lanka Cricket’s Head of Operations Carlton Bernadus.

“Recently Sri Lanka Cricket enhanced the fees for all the players participating in our domestic tournaments,” he pointed out.

Bernadus said the respective clubs were responsible for releasing cricketers who are outside the SLC contracts.

Sri Lanka were set a revised target of 163 in 26 overs with the the Duckworth and Lewis system coming into play after West Indies reached 159 for 8 in their 26 overs.

Sri Lanka was on course for a win ,but with the dismissal of Angelo Mathews and a three wicket burst in one over by Sunil Narine saw Sri Lanka drifting towards a certain defeat losing four wickets for 13 runs at one stage. Ajantha Mendis a bowler turned batsman turned the tide of the match towards the host with an unbeaten 21 facing 20 deliveries and achieving victory with a six.

Windies were 40 for 3 in the 15th over when rain intervened, and their middle order comprising Andre Russell (41) and skipper Jason Holder 36 guided them towards their final destination 159 for 8.

Play began around 3.40 pm under lights, and Sri Lanka electing to field after winning the toss got off to a resounding start.z_p28-sccc.jpg

With conditions suitable for pace bowling Lasith Malinga opened with a maiden to Andre Fletcher.

But in the third ball of Suranga Lakmal’s first over he trapped Johnson Charles lbw and Lakmal in his next over forced Marlon Samuels to cut a short ball and Tillekeratne Dilshan at backward point took a tumbling catch. Danushka Gunatileka and Shehan Jayasuriya made their ODI debut, and after five overs each bowled by Malinga and Suranga Lakmal who took the wickets of Andre Fletcher, Johnson Charles and Marlon Samuels, spin was introduced in the company of Sachitra Senanayake and Shehan Jayasuriya. In the tenth over.

With the score reading 40 for 3 after 14.3 overs a steady drizzle drove the players into their respective dressing rooms.

The persistence drizzle did not permit the covers to be taken off fully and it was a case of the ground staff covering and uncovering the playing surface from time to time.

However, after a tremendous job by the ground staff, play was possible around 8.30 pm with the overs reduced to 26 overs per side.

Shehan Jayasuriya completing his unfinished over clean bowled Jonathan Carter while cutting. But Andre Russell who displayed his batting prowess in the practice game was quickly on his strides, Russell and Darren Bravo were engaged in a 58 run stand for the fifth wicket and Andre struck a quick fire 41 facing twenty three deliveries with three fours and three sixes to uplift the tempo.

In the quest of quick runs Darren Bravo moved away from his stumps for a big hit and was bowled by Ajantha Mendis, then skipper Jason Holder hit a rapid 36 off thirteen balls with two fours and three sixes as the West indian reached 159 for 8 in 26 overs.

Suranga Lakmal who gave the early break through finished with 3 for 15 and Ajantha Mendis took 2 for 46 in his four overs.