Central made it two out of two while Southern Province recorded their first win of the ongoing Sri Lanka Cricket women’s under 26 Provincial limited over tournament yesterday(10th).
Western Province won the toss and elected to bat first against Southern at the MCA grounds and were bundled out for a mere 143 runs. Ushani Wickramarachchi stood out with the ball for Southern as she ended up with figures of 3/28 while getting good support from M. Shehani and A.Baddage. Western Province batswomen were not able to push on from their starts as they folded up in the 46th over, setting up an easy target for their opponents for victory. In reply, Southern Province made light work of their chase with openers, Kushanthi Liyanage and Anushka Sanjeewani making unbeaten half centuries to record a convincing 10 wicket win.
The game that was worked off at the Moors Grounds saw a low scoring thriller with Central Province holding their nerve for a close win. Central went into the innings break with their heads down as they were able to muster only 95 runs after winning the toss and batting first. But their bowlers stood up to the task as they worked together as a unit to restrict North Central to just 85 runs to record a nerve wracking 10 run victory. Roshini Perera top scored with 33 for North Central but the lack of application from others meant they threw away a golden opportunity to confirm their place in the finals.
The final round of this tournament will be worked off on the 12th of June before the final which will take place on the 15th.
Chief scores:
Game 1
Western Province U26 143 (45.2) Nipuni Hansika 31, Harshitha Madavi 29, Surangika Perera 15, Ushani Wickramarachchi 3/28, Apsara Baddage 2/11, Malsha Shehani 2/30
vs
Southern Province U26 147/0 (37.4) Kushanthi Liyanage 57*, Anushka Sanjeewani 55*
Game 2
Central Province U26 95 (32.1) Ruchini Samarasinghe 21, Hasini Perera 3/17, Sachini Jayawardena 2/06
vs
North Central Province U26 85 (43.5) Roshini Perera 33, Ruchini Samarasinghe 3/15, Tharini Rajapakshe 2/05, Mihiri Madushani 2/16, Chathurani Gunawardena 2/20
