Kamil, Shamaz, Ahan steer Colombo to victory
Three solid knocks by skipper Kamil Mishara, Mohamed Shamaz and Ahan Wickramasinghe paved the way for Colombo to record a 4-wicket win with four balls to spare against Galle in the Under-19 Super Provincial cricket tournament encounter played at Dambulla yesterday.
Chasing 283 to win, Mishara and Shamaz gave the Colombo side a flying start putting on 137 runs in 155 balls before Galle team removed Shamaz for 65 off 89 balls, with seven boundaries.
Mishara, joined by Wickramasinghe further frustrated the Galle bowlers, with the pair accumulating runs with minimum fuss. They added 76 runs for the second wicket before Mishara departed for a well made 97, which came off 119 balls and contained 11 fours.
Colombo lost two quick wickets before Wickramasinghe raced to his half ton with successive boundaries. He made a quick-fire 55 in 49 balls with six boundaries. At that stage Colombo needed 32 off 36 balls to win the match. Despite losing two wickets, they managed to come out victorious with four balls to spare.
After electing to bat first, Galle openers, skipper Navod Paranavithana and Chethaka Denuwan gave the side a solid start with a 72-run stand off 53 balls. Paranavithana made a quick-fire 58 in only 28 balls. He hit 13 boundaries. Denuwan did not last long, he was dismissed for 16 runs. There was a brief partnership of 39 runs for the third wicket between Thaveesha Abishek and Thevin Anarasinghe. Abishek found a reliable partner in Pawan Ratnayake. The duo associated in a valuable 88-run stand off 47 balls for the fourth wicket before Abishek was dismissed for 64. He hit eight boundaries.
Ratnayake continued from there and added 45 runs for the sixth wicket with Sandun Mendis. He also cracked 13 runs in the penultimate over before being dismissed in third ball of the last over for 71. He hit three boundaries and two sixes as Galle ended their innings on 282 for 7.
Colombo will now meet the winner of the last league encounter between Dambulla and Kandy scheduled to be played at the same venue today in the final. The final is schedule to be played on July 23 also at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium.
- Galle 282 for 7 in 50 overs (Pawan Ratnayake 71, Thaveesha Abishek 64, Navod Paranavithana 58, Sandun Mendis 26, Thevin Amarasinghe 24, Chethaka Denuwan 18: Sonal Dinusha 4 for 39)
- Colombo 286 for 6 in 49.2 overs (Kamil Mishara 87, Mohamed Shamaz 65, Ahan Wickramasinghe 55: Dunith Wellalage 2 for 47)