The Super Provincial four day cricket tournament 2018 organized by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) commenced today with two matches being played at Katunayake and Hambanthota.
Colombo vs Galle
Galle skipper Dasun Shanaka won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first on batting friendly surface at Hambanthota. Madawa Warnapura and Lahiru Milantha opened the batting for the Galle team but they could not get off to a good start as the latter ran himself out for no score. The Southern lads continued to lose wickets and at one stage were struggling at 22 for 4.
However, the experienced Roshen Silva and skipper Shanaka put on a massive 202 run partnership for the fifth wicket to put the Galle team well in control. Dasun Shanaka missed out on a well-deserved century as he was bowled by Dilruwan Perera for 95 runs. Shanaka’s knock came at a strike rate of 60.50 and included 8 boundaries.
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Then left handed batsman Chathuranga De Silva joined Roshen Silva at the crease and built another valuable partnership of 97 runs for the sixth wicket. Chaturanga De Silva played aggressively and stroked 47 runs off 63 balls including 3 sixes and 2 fours.
When bad light stopped play for day one, the Galle team was 321 for 6. Roshen Silva remained unbeaten on 146 runs which came off 249 balls including 10 boundaries. Right arm seamer Kaveesha Anjula and off spinner Dilruwan Perera picked up 2 wickets each for Colombo.
Dambulla vs Kandy
Dambulla Skipper Dimuth Karunaratne won the toss and decided to bat first at Katunayake. Sri Lankan Test representatives Dimuth Karunarathna and Kusal Mendis opened the batting for Dambulla but Mendis was dismissed by Kasun Rajitha for just 8 runs.
Karunarathna and Ashan Priyanjan put on a 70 run partnership for the third wicket but speedster Kasun Rajitha struck again to dismiss the former for 71 runs. The Skipper’s knock included 8 boundaries and came with a strike rate of 65.74.
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A middle order collapse saw the Dambulla team struggling at 145 run for 5 wickets but Ashan Priyanjan and wicket keeper batsman Manoj Sarathchandra put on a 98 run partnership to resurrect the innings. Manoj Sarathchandra stroked 57 runs which came off 72 balls including 9 fours.
Ashan Priyanjan remained unbeaten on 151 runs which came off 231 balls including 17 fours. The Dambulla team was 382 runs for 7 wickets at stumps on day one. Right arm fast bowler Kasun Rajitha was the pick of the bowlers for the Kandy team as he picked up 3 wickets for 59 runs.
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