Suspended off-spinner Sachithra Senanayake returned to competitive cricket with a superb bowling performance after he was cleared by SLC recently to play mercantile cricket as they analyzed and was happy with the remedial work by the off-spinner.
Senanayake bowled 4 tight overs giving away 16 runs and captured 3 wickets for his company, MAS Active in a rain-hit match which was shortened to a 20-over affair against John Keells which the former won by 7 wickets at MCA grounds.
MAS Active won the toss and elected to field first as they preferred to chase down a total in a 20-over match with all the fielding restrictions allowed in a 50-over game. John Keells got off to a disastrous start as Sachithra completely bamboozled the top-order taking 2 wickets early on. Youngsters, Lahiru Milantha and Bhanuka Rajapakshe resurrected the John Keells innings with elegant knocks of 39 and 26 runs respectively but the disciplined MAS Active bowlers restricted them for only 135/9 in 20 overs. Apart of Sachithra’s 3-wicket haul, Charith Jayampathi, Sachith Pathirana and Dilshan Munaweera took 2 wickets apiece.
Chasing 136 runs to win, MAS Active lost both their openers, Dilshan Munaweera and Udara Jayasundara early on as both the dashing batsmen failed to trouble the scores. A superb 120-run stand for the 3rd wicket, between Jehan Mubarak and Sachithra Serasinghe guided MAS Active to victory with both players scoring half-centuries. Jehan scored 64 runs in 49 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes while Sachithra remained unbeaten on 57 in 49 balls. MAS Active reached the target with 13 balls to spare.
Chief Scores:
John Keells – 135/9 in 20 overs: Lahiru Milantha 39, Banuka Rajapaksha 26, Sachithra Senanayaka 3/16, Dishan Munaweera 2/12, Sachith Pathirana 2/32.
MAS Active – 136/3 in 17.5 overs: Jehan Mubarak 64, Sachithra Serasinghe 57*.
