Colombo maintain unbeaten record with thrilling win
The battle between two unbeaten teams Colombo and Dambulla played at the Dambulla Stadium under floodlights turned out to be an interesting contest which ended in Colombo recording a thrilling win with six balls to spare which saw them maintain their unbeaten record.
In a low scoring game saw Colombo chasing 124 runs for victory raced to their target in the 19th over as they ended their innings making 124 for 7 in the 19th over.
Colombo in their run quest underwent fluctuated fortunes as they lost their first wicket in the third over. The low target seemed to tough for Colombo as apart from their man in form Upul Tharanga the others failed to make any impression.
They lost their top five batsmen with the score on 85 and they were able to make progress due to a run-a-ball knock of 23 by Kamindu Mendis which helped them reached the target in 19th over.
Earlier Dambulla stand in skipper Kusal Perera winning the toss and electing to take first lease of the wicket was given a sedate start by openers Dhanushka Gunatilleke and Ramith Rambukwella who together added 43 runs.
Meanwhile Galle guided by a top knock of 80 by skipper Dimuth Karunaratne enabled them to record a seven run win over Kandy to post their first win of the ongoing SLC T20 League cricket tournament in the first match played at the same venue.
Kandy in pursuit of a victory target of 194 runs was making steady progress and despite a 63 runs in 33 balls by Bhanuka Rajapakse they were able to muster a score of only 186 runs for the loss of eight wickets which saw them undergoing their third successive defeat of the tournament.
Dimuth Karunaratne leading the Galle side winning the toss and electing to take first lease of the wicket lost their first wicket that of Niroshan Dickwella in the second over with the score on 14.
Skipper Dimuth who walked into the crease joining Kusal Mendis began a recovery act as the duo frustrated the Kandy bowlers and in the process began accumulating runs at will.
The pair posted their 50 runs partnership and after having added a further 17 runs Charith Asalanka made the breakthrough with the wicket of Kusal who made a 28 ball knock of 40 that included three boundaries and a six and the pair put on 67 runs for the second wicket in only 41 balls.
Asela Gunaratne and Kasun Madusanka negotiated the remaining 20 balls left in the innings with pair sharing an unbroken 32 runs for the seventh wicket for Galle end their innings making an imposing 193 runs.
Results:
- Match 1: Colombo beat Dambulla by 3 wickets
Dambulla 123 in 18.5 overs (Ramith Rambukwella 33, Dhanushka Gunatilleke 23, Wanindu Hasaranga 15: Akila Dhananjaya 3 for 28, Jeevan Mendis 2 for 19)
Colombo124 for 7 in 19 overs (Upul Tharanga 35, Dinesh Chandimal 20, Kamindu Mendis 23 n.o.: Wanindu Hasaranga 3 for 20)
- Match 2: Galle beat Kandy by 7 runs
Galle 193 for 5 in 20 overs (Dimuth Karunaratne 80, Kusal Mendis 40, Dhananjaya de Silva 18, Asela Gunaratne 20 n.o.: Malinda Pushpakumara 2 for 38)
Kandy 186 for 8 in 20 overs (Bhanuka Rajapakse 63, Malinda Pushpakumara 26, Dasun Shanaka 24, Lahiru Thirimanne 20, Charith Asalanka 17: Nishan Peiris 2 for 24, Jeffrey Vandersay 2 for 33, Kasun Rajitha 2 for 37, Kasun Madusanka 2 for 48)