Beat Sri Lanka ‘A’ by seven wickets in final:

Morne takes SA ‘A’ to victory

Chris Dhambarage

Dashing opener Morne van Wyk hammered an unbeaten century to guide South Africa ‘A’ to a convincing seven wicket victory over Sri Lanka ‘A’ on the Duckworth and Lewis scoring method in the Tri Nation limited overs cricket tournament final worked off at the SSC ground in Maitland Place yesterday.

Van Wyk hit a sparkling 136 not out from just 108 deliveries as South Africa ‘A’ successfully reached their revised target of 248 runs with three overs to spare. A slight drizzle mid way in their innings halted play for a short period and as a result three overs were reduced with a revised target.

However South Africa ‘A’ were always ahead of the asking rate after their openers Morne van Wyk and Stiaan van Zyl had put on a 96 run partnership from 13 overs. The pair virtually took the game away from Sri Lanka with some aggressive batting that set the pace for a rousing victory.

Colin Ingram joined Van Wyk and the pair further consolidated their position with a second wicket stand of 75 runs from 14 overs. Sri Lanka ‘A’ of course made a brief comeback into the game while capturing a couple of quick wickets through Suranga Lakmal and Shaminda Eranga.

However Morne van Wyk carried on his attack on the Sri Lankan bowlers until the end as he remained unbeaten on a magnificent 136 having reached his hundred from just 84 deliveries. Altogether he hoisted sixes and struck nine boundaries.

Earlier Sri Lanka ‘A’ rattled up a competitive 255 for 6 from 47 overs after they had won the toss and elected to bat first. This was largely due to the effort of opener Tharanga Paranavithana who hit a solid 108 from 126 deliveries studded with one six and ten boundaries.

Paranavithana and wicket keeper batsman Dinesh Chandimal put the home side on the right path towards a formidable total with a second wicket stand of 129 runs from 23 overs.

But the home side lost their momentum somewhat while losing a couple of quick wickets in their attempt to accelerate the scoring rate during the latter stages.

It was upto all rounder Jeevan Mendis to add the finishing touches as he hit an unbeaten 60 from 56 deliveries inclusive of five boundaries.

Pakistan ‘A’ who was the third team that participated in the Tri Nation tournament will remain in the country and will play two four day unofficial test matches against Sri Lanka ‘A’.

The first test will be from September 9 to 11 at the Galle International Stadium and the second test will be from September 15 to 18 in Hambantota.

SRI LANKA ‘A’

D. Karunaratne b de Villiers		  3  
T. Paranavithana b Theron		108 
D. Chandimal b Philander		 55 
J. Gunaratne lbw b Philander		  1 
J. Mendis not out			 60 
K. Kulasekera c de Villiers b Philander	  7 
S. Serasinghe run out			  0  
T. Kandamby not out			  4  

Extras (lb3, w14)			 17 
TOTAL for 6 wickets in 47 overs	         255 

Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-140, 3-142, 4-215, 5-232, 6-233 
Bowling: V. Philander 10-1-39-3, C. de Villiers 7-0-51-1, J. Theron 9-0-49-1, 
	S. van Zyl 5-0-23-0, T. Tshabalala 10-0-51-0, D. Elgar 5-0-30-0, R. Bailey 1-0-9-0. 

SOUTH AFRICA ‘A’

M. van Wyk not out			136 
S. van Zyl b Senanayake			 39 
C. Ingram c Eranga b Lakmal		 36 
D. Elgar b Eranga			  7  
D. Miller not out			 24 

Extras (lb6, w4)			 10 
TOTAL for 3 wickets in 40.5 overs	252  

Fall of wickets: 1-96, 2-171, 3- 188,  
Bowling: S. Serasinghe 8-0-43-0, S. Eranga 8-1-44-1, S. Lakmal 6-0-35-1, 
	K. Kulasekera 4-0-34-0, S. Senanayake 6-0-30-1, J. Mendis 4-0-26-0, J. Gunaratne 4-0-27-0, T. Paranavithana 0.5-0-7-0.