Colombo in hard fought win over Kandy
Colombo pulled off a hard fought four-wicket win over Kandy in the SLC Super Provincial Limited Overs Cricket Tournament final second-round encounter played under lights at the R. Premadasa Stadium yesterday.
Both teams struggled to come into terms with the bowling as wickets fell like nine pins and Colombo in pursuit of a target of 137 runs were made to work hard for their victory.
Kandy Skipper Mahela Udawatte won the toss and elected to take first lease of the wicket but they fell into deep trouble as they lost wickets at regular intervals.
After just 15 overs, Kandy struggled to reach 57 for five. Later Skipper Udawatte was made to dig hard for his runs as his knock of 22 took him 48 balls.
Left-arn pacie Vishwa Fernando along with right-arm spinners Shehan Jayasuriya and Wanidu Hasaranga did the damage. Kandy’s last pair of Amila Aponso and Nuwan Pradeep rescued the side with some sensible batting as they put on a valuable 40 runs to end with a respectable score or 136.
Colombo in reply, lost their first wicket in the fifth ball of the first over with two runs on the board and then experienced some anxious moments.
They lost their top five batsmen in just under ten overs (9.3) for just 47 runs.
However, Shehan Jayasuriya and Wanidu Hasaranga saw them through with a match winning sixth-wicket partnership of 68 runs.their separation saw Colombo needing just 22 runs for victory which Jayasuriya and Sachitra Senanayake achieved in the 26th over to ensure a them a berth in the final.
Kandy: 136 in 31 overs (Mahela Udawatte 22, Amila Aponso 22 n.o, Vishwa Fernando 4/61, Shehan Jayasuriya 3/14, Wanidu Hasaranga 2/19) Colombo: 139/6 in 25.5 overs (Wanidu Hasaranga 29, Kithuruwan Vithanage 26, Shehan Jayasuriya 30 n.o, Sachithra Senanayake 22 n.o, Amila Aponso 2/34, Sachith Pathirana 2/35).