Kusal Janith Perera continued his awesome form with yet another match winning performance as Sri Lanka recorded an inaccessible 4-0 win in the fourth unofficial T20 match against Kenya at the CCC grounds this morning.
Kusal who stroked a swashbuckling 81 in the third match, smashed an unbeaten 54 as Sri Lanka made a comfortable response to Kenya’s paltry 99 for the loss of nine wickets.
The left handed opener punished the bowlers with great aggression hitting two sixes and four boundaries in his 43 ball innings and shared an unbeaten 71 for the second wicket with skipper Dinesh Chandimal who completed a successful chase with a huge six off Collins Obuya.
Chandimal made a run-a-ball 32 with three boundaries and a six. Sri Lanka brought in veteran opener Upul Tharanga to open with Kusal but the left-hander struggled to justify his place as he was dismissed for just 6 runs off nine deliveries.
Batting first Kenya continued their disastrous form with the bat managing just 99 runs in their 20 overs, their lowest so far in the series.
Kenya who is heading to Dubai for World Cup qualifiers soon after the seven match series were appalling with the bat as they showed little resistance towards Sri Lanka’s bowling.
Only Morris Ouma impressed with the bat to score 28 runs off 29 deliveries which included two sixes. Thomas Oduyo (11) and Dhiran Gondaria (11) were the only other batsmen to reach double figures while the rest of the batting crumbled in the hands of some tight bowling performance by the host.
Ramith Rambukwella bowled best once again to finish with figures of two wickets for 12 runs off four overs. It was a creditable performance by young Rambukwella who gave little scoring opportunities with a tight bowling spell. Right arm medium paceman Lahiru Jayaratne also claimed two for 22 runs while pacemen Isuru Udana, Shamindra Eranga and left arm spinner Milinda Siriwardana picked up one wicket each.
Kenya innings
Nehemiah Odhiambo b Jayaratne 07
Steve Tikolo c K. Perera b Jayaratne 03
Morris Ouma c Udana b Rambukwella 28
Collins Obuya c Thirimanne b Udana 06
Dhiran Gondaria run out 11
Rakep Patel c A. Perera b Rambukwella 08
Ragheb Aga st. K Perera b Siriwardane 05
Thomas Odoya b Eranga 11
Nelson Odhiambo run out 05
Hiren Varaiya not out 04
Elijab Otieno not out 01
Extras (lb-4, w-5, nb-1) 10
Total (9 wkts. 20 overs) 99
Fall: 13, 16, 32, 49, 63, 74, 81, 93, 95.
Bowling: S. Eranga 3-0-5-1, L. Jayaratne 3-0-22-2, I. Udana 4-0-17-1, M. Siriwardana 4-0-19-1, R. Rambukwella 4-0-12-2, A. Perera 1-0-10-0, K. Vithanage 1-0-10-0.
Sri Lanka A innings
Kusal Perera not out 54
Upul Tharanga b Otieno 06
Dinesh Chandimal not out 32
Extras (w-12, nb-1) 13
Total (1 wkt. 13.5 overs) 105
Fall: 34.
Bowling: N. Odhiambo 2-0-26-0, E. Otieno 3-0-26-1, R.G. Aga 2-0-6-0, N.M. Odhiambo 2-0-18-0, H.A. Varaiya 3-0-15-0, C.O. Obuya 1.5-0-14-0.
