Spirited Stafford Sri Lankan School in Doha (SSLSD) beat tournament favourites DPS Indian School by seven runs in the semi-finals of under 16 Cricket Tournament, organised by the Qatar Cricket Association (QCA) on 10th February 2018.
Batting first in the much important clash, Sri Lankan school boys scored a decent score of 109 in their allotted 20 overs. Skipper Mohamed Azam Zaheed was the top scorer for SSLSD with 23 runs in 30 balls and well supported by Shonil Jonathan Arendtsz with 20 runs in 27 balls. In reply DPS Indian school boys managed to score 102 runs only and SSLDS’s Joshua De Silva bowled a match winning spell with 03 wickets, caught a brilliant catch and a run out which made him the Man of the Match. Manish Fernando also bowled superbly and claimed three wickets for SSLSD.
Sri Lankan school boys’ performances throughout the tournament have been of a high standard and in the previous games they beat Ideal Indian School, Birla Public School and Pakistan International School. Now Sri Lankan School will meet PakShama Pakistan School in the grand final on 17th (Saturday) February 2018 at QCA Cricket Grounds in Lusail, State of Qatar. This is the first time Stafford Sri Lankan School qualified for a schools cricket grand finals in Qatar.
Commenting on this win, Mr. Kumudu Fonseka, the Chairman of the School said “We are proud of the way our boys played the game. Irrespective of the result, the important thing in cricket is to play the game in the proper spirit and I am happy that the Stafford team has displayed that in this tournament so far. The school emphasizes a balanced education for our children and we support sports to complement the education that the children receive”. Stafford Sri Lankan School is the only Sri Lankan community school existing in Qatar which was established in year 2000 and presently it provides education for over one thousand students.
SSLSD squad : Azam (Captain), Dhanith (Vice Captain), Kalith, Manish, Ashfaq, Joshua, Ithisham, Krithik, Pasindu, Chamath, Rahal, Shonil, Ahas, Amar, Trishane, Shaid & Ravishka.
SSLSD Cricket team is coached by Mr. Mahesh Abhayapala and assisted by Mr. Darshana, Mr. Mulafer and Mr. Susantha.
 beat tournament favourites DPS Indian School by seven runs in the semi-finals of under 16 Cricket Tournament, organised by the Qatar Cricket Association (QCA) on 10th February 2018.){kind=link}