Dinesh Chandimal struck a fighting century as team Colombo beat team Galle to emerge champions of the Super Provincial Limited Over Tournament which concluded today(29).
Brilliant Sadeera century drives Galle to final
21-year old opening batsman Sadeera Samarawickrama stroked a fluent century to help Galle crush Dambulla…
Taking first lease of the wicket, Colombo was cautiously placed at 96/4 at the end of the 23rd over and odds looked against them to make a competitive score on what looked like a tough track to bat on. It was then that Shehan Jayasuriya joined his skipper Chandimal and the duo put on a game changing 139 run partnership for the 5th wicket.
Jayasuriya was the aggressor of the two as he struck 77 off just 63 balls inclusive of 8 fours and a six. Chandimal meanwhile anchored the innings using the reverse sweep to very good effect to tackle the Galle spinners in the middle overs as they paced their innings beautifully to make sure they reached the magical 300 run mark. Thisara Perera, Sachithra Senanayake and Wanindu Hasaranga struck some lusty blows towards the end but it was all about Chandimal as he remained unbeaten on 113* off just 116 balls hitting 11 fours and 3 sixes to lift Colombo to 307/8 in their allotted fifty overs. Malinda Pushpakumara impressed with 2/32 in his quota of ten overs while the other bowlers struggled right throughout.
Shehan Jayasuriya and Vishwa Fernando guide Colombo to final
All-rounder Shehan Jayasuriya and fast-bowler Vishwa Fernando produced stellar performances to help…
Galle skipper Upul Tharanga fell early in the run chase to a controversial LBW decision as umpire Ruchira Palliyaguruge was in the spotlight but all eyes were on Sadeera Samarawickrama and Dimuth Karunaratne, the two top run getters in the tournament coming into the final (overtaken by Chandimal after the final). It was Dushmantha Chameera who got both key men as he bowled with a lot of heart cleaning up Karunaratne before going on to bounce out Samarawickrama who looked in fine touch once again.
Sammu Ashan and Chathuranga De Silva provided some resistance with a half century partnership for the 5th wicket but that was as good as it got for Galle as they folded up for just 170 with close to 20 overs remaining in their innings. Thisara Perera joined in the party picking up 4 wickets as team Colombo romped home by a whopping 137 runs to emerge champions.
Colombo – 307/8 (50 overs) Dinesh Chandimal 113*, Shehan Jayasuriya 77, Dilshan Munaweera 27, Kithuruwan Vithanage 25, Malinda Pushpakumara 2/32, Chathuranga De Silva 2/53, Akila Dhananjaya 2/56, Dasun Shanaka 2/63
Galle – 170 all-out (30.3 overs) Chathuranga De Silva 34, Sammu Ashan 30, Sadeera Samarawickrama 29, Akila Dhananjaya 24, Thisara Perera 4/42, Sachithra Senanayake 2/34, Dushmantha Chameera 2/40
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