Team Dambulla emerged champions of the National Super League 50-Over Tournament 2023 as they defeated Team Jaffna by 5 wickets in the final of the tournament worked off today (6th April) at R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Colombo.
Team Jaffna skipper Janith Liyanage won the toss and had no hesitation to bat first on a batting-friendly surface at Premadasa.
Navod Paranavithana and Nishan Madushka opened the batting for Team Jaffna but their stay in the middle lasted only 4.5 overs as the latter was bowled by Asitha Fernando for 12 runs. Paranavithana then built another decent 37-run stand for the 2nd wicket with Jaffna No. 3 batter Kasun Abeyratne.
Subsequently, Jaffna witnessed a major batting collapse losing 6 wickets for 48 runs and being restricted to 116/7 before the rain halted the play in the 33rd over. After around a 90-minute break, the play resumed and Jaffna’s low-order batters managed to add 44 more runs for the last 3 wickets as they were bowled out for 160.
Paranavithana was the only significant contributor with the bat as he compiled a useful half-century for Team Jaffna. Dambulla main spinners Lakshan Sandakan, Dushan Hemantha and Sonal Dinusha produced outstanding bowling performances, picking up 3 wickets each.
In the pursuit of an easy target of 161 runs, Team Dambulla got off to a poor start losing 2 top-order wickets for 29 runs inside the first 10 overs. But, the opening batter Pavan Rathnayake and experienced batter Ashan Priyanjan steadied the ship, building a 73-run stand for the 3rd wicket.
The young left-hander Sonal Dinusha also played a vital 52-ball 42 runs as Team Dambulla got over the line quite comprehensively in the 39th over with 5 wickets in hand. Rathnayake top-scored for the victorious Team Dambulla playing a match-winning half-century.
Team Dambulla who won the NSL 4-Day tournament a month ago, and completed the double, winning the NSL 50-Over tournament showing their dominance in both formats this year.
Award Winners
- Player of the Tournament – Ashen Bandara (Team Colombo)
- Player of the Final – Sonal Dinusha (Team Dambulla)
- Best Batter – Pasindu Sooriyabandara (Team Galle)
- Best Bowler – Lahiru Samarakoon (Team Dambulla)
Brief Scores
Team Jaffna – 160 (47.3) Navod Paranavithana 51, Jeffrey Vandersay 26*, Dilum Sudeera 23, Lakshan Sandakan 3/22, Dushan Hemantha 3/22, Sonal Dinusha 3/33
Team Dambulla 163/5 (39) Pavan Rathnayake 62, Sonal Dinusha 45*, Ashan Priyanjan 33, Binura Fernando 2/17, Jeffrey Vandersay 2/48
Result – Team Dambulla won by 5 wickets
Result
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Navod Paranavithana | c Minod Bhanuka b Asitha Fernando | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 57.14 |
| Nishan Madushka | c Sonal Dinusha b Nuwan Thushara | 20 | 20 | 4 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Kasun Abeyratne | c Ashan Priyanjan b Asitha Fernando | 18 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 163.64 |
| Janith Liyanage | c & b Lahiru Samarakoon | 3 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 21.43 |
| Avishka Tharindu | b Lahiru Samarakoon | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 50.00 |
| Lahiru Madushanka | c Lahiru Samarakoon b Asitha Fernando | 11 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 50.00 |
| Raveen De Silva | b Lahiru Samarakoon | 13 | 33 | 1 | 0 | 39.39 |
| Ravindu Fernando | c Kamindu Mendis b Nuwan Thushara | 100 | 89 | 11 | 5 | 112.36 |
| Dilum Sudeera | c Minod Bhanuka b Dushan Hemantha | 16 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 51.61 |
| Jeffrey Vandersay | b Dushan Hemantha | 18 | 40 | 0 | 0 | 45.00 |
| Yasiru Rodrigo | not out | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Extras | 28 (b 4 , lb 10 , nb 0, w 14, pen 0) |
| Total | 233/10 (46.1 Overs, RR: 5.05) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asitha Fernando | 6 | 0 | 31 | 3 | 5.17 | |
| Nuwan Thushara | 7.1 | 0 | 41 | 2 | 5.77 | |
| Lahiru Samarakoon | 10 | 2 | 41 | 3 | 4.10 | |
| Sonal Dinusha | 8 | 0 | 23 | 0 | 2.88 | |
| Lakshan Sandakan | 6 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 6.67 | |
| Dushan Hemantha | 9 | 1 | 43 | 2 | 4.78 | |
| Batsmen | R | B | 4s | 6s | SR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minod Bhanuka | b Yasiru Rodrigo | 8 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 61.54 |
| Pavan Rathnayake | not out | 107 | 102 | 13 | 2 | 104.90 |
| Kamindu Mendis | c Avishka Tharindu b Lahiru Madushanka | 14 | 23 | 2 | 0 | 60.87 |
| Lasith Abeyrathne | c Avishka Tharindu b Raveen De Silva | 10 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 100.00 |
| Sonal Dinusha | c Ravindu Fernando b Dilum Sudeera | 38 | 54 | 3 | 0 | 70.37 |
| Dushan Hemantha | not out | 7 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 35.00 |
| Extras | 2 (b 0 , lb 0 , nb 0, w 2, pen 0) |
| Total | 186/4 (37 Overs, RR: 5.03) |
| Bowling | O | M | R | W | Econ | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yasiru Rodrigo | 6 | 0 | 41 | 1 | 6.83 | |
| Janith Liyanage | 6 | 0 | 41 | 0 | 6.83 | |
| Navod Paranavithana | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 9.00 | |
| Dilum Sudeera | 5 | 0 | 22 | 1 | 4.40 | |
| Lahiru Madushanka | 3 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 4.33 | |
| Raveen De Silva | 6 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 2.67 | |
| Ravindu Fernando | 4 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 3.75 | |
| Jeffrey Vandersay | 6 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 4.83 | |
 at R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium, Colombo.){kind=link}