Discarded Saram shines in Ruhuna win

Chris DHAMBARAGE

Sri Lanka discard Indika de Saram hammered a career best knock of 94 to spearhead Ruhuna Province to a rousing 51 run victory over Basnahira North in their SLT Inter Provincial cricket tournament match worked off at the Moors grounds in Braybrooke Place yesterday.

De Saram launched a fierce attack on the Basnahira North bowlers after the two season campaigners Upul Tharanga and veteran Sanath Jayasuriya had provided a flying start to their innings.

Tharanga went on to hit a sparkling half century from 47 deliveries inclusive of two sixes and four boundaries while Jayasuriya raced to a 13 ball 32 with one six and half a dozen of boundaries. De Saram took over the honours from there onwards with a swashbuckling innings from just 43 deliveries that contained as many as nine sixes and four boundaries.

Basnahira North never looked like overtaking this formidable total despite a valiant effort from wicket keeper batsman Kaushal Silva who hit a 47 ball 60 with the aid of nine boundaries. Paceman Tharanga Lakshitha was the pick of the bowlers with excellent figures of four wickets for 28 while Lasith Malinga and Kosala Kulasekera claimed two wickets each.

Ruhuna: 203 for 6 in 20 overs (U. Tharanga 52, S. Jayasuriya 32, I. de Saram 94)

Basnahira North: 152 in 19.1 overs (K. Silva 60, A. Mathews 23, N. Kulasekera 22 n.o, L. Malinga 2 for 24, T. Lakshitha 4 for 28, K. Kulasekera 2 for 28)

Suranga, Ruchira heroes for Basnahira

Sri Lanka’s new pace sensation Suranga Lakmal and Ruchira Perera snapped up three wickets each as Basnahira South cruised to an upset 33 run victory over Kandurata in their SLT Inter Provincial cricket tournament match worked off at the Moors grounds in Braybrooke Place yesterday.

Suranga Lakmal and Ruchira Perera along with leg spinner Malinga Bandara shared eight wickets between them as Kandurata were dismissed for 135 runs with two overs to spare after they had piled up a competitive 168 for 9.

Even then Kandurata Province were well on course to reach their target at one stage following a splendid start from Tharanga Paranavithana, skipper Kumar Sangakkara and Chinthaka Jayasinghe.

In fact left hander Sangakkara was well set for a big score having struck four boundaries and Jayasinghe looked even more dangerous after having raced to a 23 ball 34 inclusive of two sixes and two boundaries. But after their departure they lost wickets at regular intervals and eventually fell short by 33 runs.

Earlier Basnahira South put up a fine batting performance to reach a challenging 168 for 9 from their 20 overs. Skipper and dashing opener Tillekeratne Dilshan led the way with a quick fire 37 from 28 deliveries inclusive of six boundaries.

In addition all rounder Hasantha Fernando (32 in 26 balls) and Milinda Siriwardena (39 in 26 balls) also made significant contributions in the middle order to boost their total.

Basnahira South: 168 for 9 in 20 overs (T. M. Dilshan 37, M. Siriwardena 39, M. Muralitharan 2 for 36, D. Fernando 2 for 27)

Kandurata: 135 in 17.3 overs (T. Paranavithana 19, K. Sangakkara 30, C. Jayasinghe 34, S. Lakmal 3 for 30, R. Perera 3 for 23, M. Bandara 2 for 24)

Mubarak guides Wayamba to victory

Skipper Jehan Mubarak struck an unbeaten half century to guide Wayamba Province to a convincing four wicket victory over the Sri Lanka Schools XI in their SLT Inter Provincial cricket tournament match worked off at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium yesterday. Opener Mubarak carried his bat until the end and remained unbeaten on 60 from 42 deliveries with two sixes and half a dozen of boundaries as Wayamba Province overtook their opponents total of 120 for 8 with four overs to spare.

This was after the Schools XI had produced an improved batting performance to reach a healthy 120 for 8 from their 20 overs. Middle order batsman Buwanaka Ekanayake hit a top score of 38 with one six and four boundaries.

Schools XI: 120 for 8 in 20 overs (D. Chandimal 23, B. Ekanayake 38, C. de Silva 22, T. Perera 3 for 17, I. Udana 2 for 26)

Wayamba: 121 for 6 in 15.5 overs (J. Mubarak 60 n.o, M. Jayaratne 2 for 26)