Dasun Shanaka slammed a whirlwind knock of 77 to help Dhananjaya De Silva XI beat Kusal Mendis XI by 4 wickets in the SLC ‘Residential Training Camp’ Intra-squad T20 match played at Pallekelle International Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.
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Chasing 190 runs to victory, Shanaka blitzed through to 77 off 33 balls with 6 fours and 6 sixes. Skipper Dhananjaya De Silva hit a 37-ball 42, while opening batsman Niroshan Dickwella scored 31 off 18 balls as Dhananjaya De Silva’s XI reached the target with 4 balls to spare. Suranga Lakmal, Kasun Rajitha and Lakshan Sandakan picked up 2 wickets each for the losing team.
Earlier, after Kusal Mendis won the toss and elected to bat on a placid surface. They posted 189 for the loss of 4 wickets in the back of half-tons by Dinesh Chandimal and Thisara Perera.
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Opening batsman Avishka Fernando slammed 42 off 28 balls with 6 fours and a six to set the tone. Skipper Mendis took 17 balls for his 16. His knock had two fours.
However, fresh from their brilliant centuries during the 50-over match yesterday, Dinesh Chandimal and Thisara Perera provided the late blitz to set a solid score on the board. Chandimal slammed 8 fours and 2 sixes during his 32-ball, unbeaten 63 while Perera reached his half-century in 28 balls with 6 fours and one huge six.
Nuwan Pradeep, Isuru Udana and Dilruwan Perera picked up one wicket apiece for Dhananjaya De Silva’s XI. Dilruwan gave away only 24 runs while Pradeep and Udana leaked at 10 and 12 runs per over respectively.
Mendis XI – 189/4 (20): Avishka Fernando 42, Kusal Mendis 16, Dinesh Chandimal 63*, Thisara Perera 50*
Dhananjaya XI – 191/6 (19.2): Niroshan Dickwella 31, Dhananjaya De Silva 42, Dasun Shanaka 77, Lahiru Thirimanne 19, Kasun Rajitha 2/37, Suranga Lakmal 2/32, Lakshan Sandakan 2/27
The 12-day ‘Residential Training Camp’ with the participation of 25 players will come to an end tomorrow (2nd July).
