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| Dinesh Chandimal scored a brisky 88 not out for Ruhuna (Pix by Ranjith Perera) |
Wayamba openers Thilan Samaraweera and Rumesh Buddika with a century opening stand guided their side to a convincing seven-wicket win over Ruhuna in a high scoring match of Inter-Provincial T20 cricket tournament match played at the R. Premadasa Stadium yesterday.
Thilan and Rumesh who both made identical knocks of 57 put on a solid opening wicket stand of 119 which paved the way for Wayamba chasing a formidable target of 151 to reach the target with 16 balls to spare.
Thilan’s knock which came off 39 balls comprised four boundaries and three towering sixes while Rumesh’s 36 ball knock included four boundaries and the same number of hits over the ropes.
The match played in the afternoon session saw Ruhuna skipper Mahela Udawatte winning the toss and electing to bat. Ruhuna had an early setback as they lost their first wicket in the fifth ball of the first over that of veteran Sanath Jayasuriya who was able to make a contribution of only four runs.
Skipper Udawatte joined by rising star Dinesh Chandimal added a valuable 63 runs for the second wicket before they were separated. Ruhuna fell back as they lost three quick wickets for the addition of 20 runs and slid to 87 for 5 in the 13th over.
Chandimal at the other end was forced to watch wickets tumbling but he held on to steer his side and put in another useful 49 runs for seventh wicket. In the end his unbeaten knock of 88 in 57 balls with nine boundaries and two sixes was in vain.
Today there are two matches down for decision with Kandurata meeting Wayamba at 10.00 a.m. and Basnahira meeting Combined Provinces at 2.30 p.m.
Ruhuna 150 for 7 in 20 overs (Mahela Udawatte 18, Suraj Randiv 15, Dinesh Chandimal 88 n.o.: Kaushal Lokuarachchi 2 for 13, Malinga Bandara 2 for 25)
Wayamba 151 for 3 in 17.2 overs (Thilan Samaraweera 57, Rumesh Buddika 57, Thilina Kandamby 17 n.o.)
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| Last year’s the Sunday Times-Bata Schoolboy Cricketer Rumesh Bhuddika on his way to 57 for Wayamba. |
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