Sri Lanka’s young left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage faced a heartbreaking personal loss during the ongoing ACC Men’s Asia Cup 2025 in the United Arab Emirates, as his father, Suranga Wellalage, passed away in Colombo, reportedly due to a heart attack.
The 22-year-old was playing in Sri Lanka’s final group-stage clash against Afghanistan when news of his father’s death reached him. Suranga, who was also a cricketer in his time, had captained Prince of Wales College — one of Sri Lanka’s leading school teams — and remained closely associated with the nation’s cricketing culture.
The tragic news was confirmed by former Sri Lankan cricketer and commentator Russell Arnold during the post-match broadcast. “Dunith Wellalage’s father, Suranga, passed away just a while ago.
He played a bit of cricket too. He captained Prince of Wales College when I captained St. Peter’s. Quite sad to hear that. The news has been broken to Dunith just a while ago, and our condolences with the family,” Arnold said, noting that the team’s celebrations would understandably be subdued.
Wellalage, considered among Sri Lanka’s most promising talents, endured a difficult outing in the match. Despite claiming one wicket, he conceded 49 runs in his four overs. Veteran Afghan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi launched a brutal assault in the 19th over, striking him for five sixes, adding 32 runs to Afghanistan’s total.
However, the damage proved insufficient as Sri Lanka’s batting lineup, led by Kusal Mendis, comfortably chased the target.
Mendis played a match-winning knock of 74* off 52 deliveries, striking ten boundaries and anchoring key partnerships. Kamindu Mendis also contributed with a brisk 26 off 13 balls. Sri Lanka sealed victory in 18.4 overs with six wickets in hand, knocking Afghanistan out of the tournament.
With this win, Sri Lanka joined Bangladesh in the Super Fours, though their progress comes amid the grief of Wellalage’s personal tragedy. The team will now look to rally around their young spinner as they prepare for the next stage.
