Kandy vs Dambulla
Team Dambulla had a dream start after they won the toss and elected to field first as the much fancied Team Kandy were bowled out inside of 30 overs for a paltry 127.
It could have been worse for Kandy at 53/6 but a couple of useful knocks late in the innings from Sachith Pathirana(38) and Chamara Kapugedara(40) guided them to a bit of respectability.
It was Lahiru Gamage and the returning quick (from injury) Shehan Madushanka who made the early inroads, sharing four wickets among them, before Jeffrey Vandersay drove home the advantage with mesmerizing figures of 4/07 in 4.1 overs.
All-round Jayasuriya makes it two out of two for Colombo
The second set of matches in the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC)..
Kusal Perera and Ruvindu Gunasekara were brilliant at the top of the order for Dambulla with scores of 41 & 38 respectively during the run chase, before TM Sampath and Lahiru Madushanka remained unbeaten to guide them home inside 19 overs. Sachith Pathirana captured three wickets for Team Kandy.
Galle vs Colombo
It seems like forever since the elegant Sadeera Samarawickrama played all three formats for Sri Lanka, but he showed his class after a lean run of form in the recent past, when he smashed a swashbuckling 130 runs off just 118 balls against Team Colombo.
The stylish Samarawickrama was well in control right throughout his innings stroking 11 fours and a rather surprising 4 sixes, as he put on 129 for the second wicket with the more explosive Rakith Rambukwella. Rambuwella went on his merry way to make 87 off just 79 balls inclusive of 6 fours and 6 sixes.
Photo Album – Dambulla vs Galle | SLC Super Provincial One Day Tournament
While Samarawickrama batted deep into the innings with his 130, it was Chathuranga De Silva who added impetus to the innings with a flamboyant 57 off just 35 balls as Galle posted a mammoth 347/7 in their allotted 50 overs.
It was always going to be an uphill battle for Colombo but the second wicket pair of Shehan Jayasuriya and Lahiru Thirimanne kept them in the match for a brief period before eventually folding up for just 200 runs. While Jayasuriya made a better than run a ball 70, Thirimanne was unfortunate to be dismissed two runs short of a deserving half century as the rest of the batting crumbled against a rising required rate.
Malinda Pushpakumara was the chief tormentor with the ball capturing 4/24 in his quota of ten overs, as he had a firm grip on the Colombo middle order. Suranga Lakmal, Dasun Shanaka and Seekuge Prasanna also picked up two wickets apiece as Galle secured vital points in a bid to rise to the top of the table.
