Left arm chinaman, Lakshan Sandakan and opening batsman Dhananjaya De Silva excelled for Sri Lanka A as they defeated Derbyshire comprehensively by 7 wickets in their day/night tour game at County Grounds.
25-year old Sandakan produced his best ever List A spell of 5 for 40 off his 9 overs while Dhananjaya De Silva stroked his 2nd List A century.
Earlier in the afternoon rain delayed the start of play and the game was limited to a 43-over encounter. Skipper Ashan Priyanjan won the toss and asked the hosts’ to bat first.
Opening batsman Ben Slater smashed his second century in the current season as he clobbered 124 runs off 118 deliveries with 16 fours to his name. Apart of Slater’s contribution, Wes Durston and Thomas Wood made 32 and 44 respectively as Derbyshire posted 281 for 7 from their allotted 43 overs.
Sandakan ripped through the middle order with his guile and accuracy to claim his first List A five-wicket haul. Experienced seamer, Thisara Perera and Kasun Rajitha leaked runs at 8.16 and 9.00 per over to take one wicket each.
Footballer turned Chinaman; Lakshan Sandakan
Chasing a daunting target of 282 from 43 overs, Sri Lanka A openers, De Silva and Niroshan Dickwella got the visitors off to a blazing start. They completely annihilated the Derbyshire bowlers adding 161 runs in just 17 overs. Dickwella smashed 67 off 47 deliveries with 10 fours and a six to his name before falling to Durston.
De Silva continued to accumulate runs and trim down the target but fell in the 25th over. The right-hander had 17 fours and 2 sixes in his 81-ball knock of 119. Two drop batsman, Bhanuka Rajapaksa finished off the game with an unbeaten and blazing 28-ball 48 and took the visitors over the line with 64 balls to spare.
Derbyshire – 281/7 in 43 overs: Ben Slater 124, Thomas Wood 44, Wes Durston 32, Lakshan Sandakan 5/40.
Sri Lanka A – 284/3 in 32.2 overs: Niroshan Dickwella 67, Dhananjaya De Silva 119, Mahela Udawatte 22, Bhanuka Rajapaksa 48*.
The tri-series between Sri Lanka A, Pakistan A and England Lions will commence on 18th July at Cheltenham with the two Asian teams going head to head.
