The Kandurata Maroons beat Basnahira Greens to qualify to participate in the Champions league 2013 which will be held in India next month.
Though the match was interesting the two strong teams could not quite make it in to the thriller it was expected to be which is the most important element in a final.
The final clash of the Super 4 T20 Tournamanent worked off by Sri Lanka Cricket took place between the Kandurata Maroons and the Basnahira Greens at the R Premadasa International Stadium on the 17th of August 2013.
Both teams competed with their other two opponents –Uthura Yellows and the Ruhuna Reds- and progressed into the finals by virtue of their challenging performances.
Both of the captains- Angelo Mathews of the Basnahira team and Lahiru Thirimanne of the Kandurata team – wanted to bat first since it was a sunny day in Colombo and the pitch was perfect for batting.
The toss favoured the Greens who elected to bat first. Basnahira won both their matches in which they batted first. Kandurata lost their last league match, while chasing against Uthura Yellows.
Nuwan Kulasekara gave away 10 runs in the very first over which energized the opening batsmen Dilshan Munaweera and Gihan Rupasinghe. But national cap Kulasekara got both of them out of the field in his2ndover. Rupasinghe was adjudged lbw in the first ball of the 3rd over without any runs to his name and no sooner Munaweera followed him with 7 runs (11) bowled out by Kulasekara.
Sachitra Serasinghe too, left the field quickly run out in the 5th over with 7 runs from 12 balls. The Greens started to struggle losing their wickets early.The remaining batsmen T M Sampath then paired up with the team captain Angelo Mathews.
Still the bad luck continued, Sampath was caught by the keeper- Kumar Sangakkara- while trying to hit hard against a delivery from Dammikka Prasad in the 8th over. Sampath made 14 runs from 11 balls.
Sameera De Zoysa went back as soon as he came with 2 runs (2 balls) for the 2nd run out in the innings, perfectly done by Dananjaya De Silva. The Basnahira Greens were in a miserable state of 52-5 at the end of 10 overs.
Janaka Gunaratne did manage to survive for a long time but he failed to gather runs- which the team desperately needed at that time. On the other hand Mathews was dealing with some slow singles.
The partnership broke during the 16th over when Kulasekara came into attack. Gunaratne got bowled out for 9 runs (22), enabling Kulasekara to get his 3rd wicket. Mathews finally understood the situation and smashed 2 fours against Mendis in the next over.
Though Mathews was working hard to make a big total, wickets were falling off at the other end. Mathews who was down at the pitch until the very end gathered 53 runs from 49 balls including 3 fours and a six. He saved the Basnahira team by creating an acceptable target of 109 runs.
The Kandurata bowlers did a great job-specially the spinners, who grabbed the wickets and slowed the run rate- Kulasekara lead the way with 3 wickets from 4 overs for just 17 runs.
The Maroon openers entered the field with an easy run chase of 110 runs while the Greens had to defend under pressure.
Unlike the Basnahira team, the Maroons had a strong first wicket partnership between Thilina Kandamby and Upul Tharanga. Upul Tharanga smashed 3 consistent fours in the 4th over against Isuru Udana.
Finally it was Mathews who broke the partnership. Kandamby got caught to Udana while trying smash a six. It was an unnecessary shot when they were in control of the run chase. He returned to the pavilion with 17 runs from 18 balls.
Tharanga then joined Kumar Sangakkara-The danger man. They both played without any pressure, smashed fours now and then. Sangakkara luckily escaped in the 10th over, but Tharanga was dismissed by Isuru Udana in the 11th over. He went for a lbw with 32 runs from 30 balls.
Sangakkara also had to leave in the next over with 21 runs (19) when he got caught to Gunaratne while batting against Kosala Kulasekara. At the end of 12 overs the Maroons were in a safe stage of 76-3.
LahiruThirimanne- the Kandurata capatain- and Kaushal Lokuarachchi gathered the required runs together with some boundaries. At the end of the innings Lokuarachchi and Thirimanne had 26 runs (25) and 9 runs (10) respectively.
The Basnahira bowlers, though they grabbed some important wickets could not do enough. Mathews,Udana and K kulasekara got a wicket each.
A classy four by Lokuarachchi took Kandurata to a seven- wicket win. The game was over at the end of the 17th over. The Kandurata Maroons emerged as the champions. Nuwan Kulasekara was awarded the Man of the Match for his 3-19.
