Tharanga hammers South Africa ‘A’ bowlers

Dashing opener Upul Tharanga hammered an unbeaten 173 to help the Sri Lanka ‘A’ team beat the South Africa ‘A’ team by 26 runs in their third one day match played under lights at Buffalo Park, East London on Wednesday.

Tharanga hoisted four sixes and struck 20 boundaries during his magnificent innings which earned him the man of the match award. Sri Lanka ‘A’ piled up a massive 335 for 3 after electing to bat first and then restricted the home side for 309 in 48 overs.

Sri Lanka also lead the five match series 2-1.

Sri Lanka ‘A’: 335 for 3 in 50 overs (U. Tharanga 173 not out, T. Paranavithana 39, D. Perera 44, T. Kandamby 30, K. Gunawardena 34 n.o)

South Africa ‘A’: 309 in 47.5 overs (G. H. Bodi 153, A. N. Petersen 39, H. G. Kuhn 28, V. B. van Jaarsveld 41, R. Herath 4 for 48, I. Amerasinghe 3 for 67).