Greys humiliate Greens; Reds turn down Blues
Star-studded SLC Greens led by national white-ball skipper Dasun Shanaka suffered a humiliating 81-run loss to SLC Greys while SLC Reds recorded a comfortable 33-run victory over SLC Blues in their final matches of the SLC Invitation T20 League match played at the R. Premadasa Stadium yesterday.
Chasing 167 to win, Greens were bowled out for 85 runs inside 16 overs, shattering their chance of qualifying to Monday’s final with SLC Blues.
Put into bat first, Greys got off to a flying start as they hammered 119 for the first wickets inside 12 overs with Thanuka Dabare hitting a quick-fire 66 off 40. When he was caught by Shanaka off his own bowling, Dabare has struck eight boundaries and two sixes and more importantly had laid a solid foundation for an imposing total. With his departure, Grays, however, suffered a mini collapse, losing three wickets, including that off Dabare’s opening partner Kasun Vidura (36 off 31) for the addition of just six runs.
Despite this, Greys managed to put on a formidable total with Greens exhibiting a poor show with the ball, sending down as many as 15 wides in a total of 22 extras.
For the Greens Pathum Nissanka (15), Niroshan Dickwella (27) and Dinesh Chandimal (24) got starts but regular wickets hurt their chances of chasing down the target of 167. For Greys Muditha Lakshan and Pulina Tharanga picked three wickets each while captain Ashan Priyanjan collected two scalps.
In the game that was played evening, Reds elected to bat first and posted a challenging total of 178 for the loss of four wickets, propelled by brilliant knocks from skipper Kusal Mendis and star allrounder Wanindu Hasaranga, who later returned to claim two scalps.
The Reds were down at 53 after losing three wickets, but Mendis and Hasaranga steadied their side with valuable partnership of 125 runs for the fourth wicket. Mendis smashed 86 off just 60 deliveries inclusive of 10 fours and six, while Hasaranga remained unbeaten on 69 off 41 with three fours and five sixes as Reds ended their quota of overs at 178.
Greens used seven bowlers, but Suminda Lakshan was the pick out of the lot for his figures of 2 for 29.
Chasing 179 for victory, the Greens were never allowed to settle in by the Reds bowlers as wickets fell at regular intervals, while the run rate slowed down significantly. Sadeera Samarawickrama (40), Lahiru Udara (35) and Ashen Bandara (30) resisted with the bat, yet their team fell short of the target by 33 runs. Hasaranga and Asitha Fernando picked two wickets each.
| Chief scores | |
SLC Greys 166 for 7 (20) (Thanuka Dabare 66, Kasun Vidura 36, Minod Bhanuka 20, Lakshan Sandakan 2/14, Dasun Shanaka 2/20) SLC Greens 85 all out (15.5) (Niroshan Dickwella 27, Dinesh Chandimal 24, Pathum Nissanka 15, Muditha Lakshan 3/17, Pulina Tharanga 3/12, Ashan Priyanjan 2/11)
SLC Reds 178 for 4 (20) (Kusal Mendis 86, Wanindu Hasaranga 69, Suminda Lakshan 2/29) SLC Blues 145 for 6 (20) (Sadeera Samarawickrama 40, Lahiru Udara 35, Ashen Bandara 30, Wanindu Hasaranga 2/18. Asitha Fernando 2/25) |