Theekshana, Lakshan silver lining in Sri Lanka’s dark cloud

 Northern Warriors led by Nicholas Pooran celebrate their victory

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lankan cricket is currently going through a lean phase following back to back 2-0 thrashings at the hands of South Africa and England, but two emerging young cricketers have somewhat brought some spark to the rather gloomy atmosphere with some splendid individual performances.

Two new kids on the block who played for rival teams that reached the final of the Lanka Premier League (LPL), Maheesh Theekshana and Dhananjaya Lakshan teamed up together to steer Northern Warriors to an emphatic eight-wicket win over Delhi Bulls, and with it lift the Abu Dhabi T10 Trophy in the UAE capital on Saturday night.

Both players reserved their best for the last. Theekshana, whom the franchise referred to as the mystery spinner from Sri Lanka, appeared in only two matches for the Warriors prior to the final, while Lakshan played in six games. It was their combined effort that saw Delhi Bulls, led by West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo, restricted to a rather modest total of 81-9 in 10 overs; the Warriors knocked off those runs in 8.2 overs for the loss of just two wickets.

Theekshana wreaked havoc with his off-breaks taking 3 for 14 off two overs instigating a collapse in the Delhi Bulls middle-order. He accounted for Ravi Bopara (9) and Bravo (0) in the seventh over having earlier picked up Evin Lewis (10) in the third, to take the Player of the Match award. He also won the Most Valuable Player prize as well.

Dhananjaya for his part ended with 2 for 12 bowling his right-arm fast-medium deliveries at the death, which included the wicket of Delhi Bulls top scorer Mohammad Nabi, the former Afghanistan captain, for 21.

Northern Warriors led by West Indies wicket-keeper/batsman Nicholas Pooran became the first two-time champions in the competitions four-edition history. He followed in the footsteps of previous Warriors captain Darren Sammy in clinching T10 glory at his first experience leading a franchise.  

Theekshana (20) from St. Benedict’s College Kotahena played for Jaffna Stallions in the inaugural LPL, with the Stallions going on to beat the Galle Gladiators in the final.

He made his mark in international cricket playing for a Sri Lanka Board President’s XI against Ireland A at Katunayake in a two-day match in January 2019 taking 3 for 9 in six overs.

Lakshan (22), an all-rounder from Richmond College, played for Galle Gladiators in the LPL and was picked the Emerging Player of the Tournament with 13 wickets (avg. 17.30) from eight matches – the second highest wicket-taker in the tournament. His best performance was in the final when he took 3 for 36 that included the wickets of Johnson Charles, Man of the Final Shoaib Malik and Dhananjaya de Silva.

Both Theekshana and Lakshan represent Colombo Colts CC in the company of national cricketers Angelo Mathews, Akila Dananjaya and Avishka Fernando in the domestic competitions, and a lot could be heard from these two players in white ball cricket.

Match winners for Northern Warriors Dhananjaya Lakshan and Maheesh Theekshana