Sri Lanka emerging beat Japan by 4 wkts
The Sri Lanka Emerging side recorded their third victory in Japan
The Sri Lanka Emerging team overcame Japan by 4 wickets in the third of the five-match T20 series played at the Sano International Cricket Ground in Japan yesterday. Batting first, Japan were restricted to 97-9 in their allotted overs and Sri Lanka Emerging chased down the target, but after losing six wickets with 15 deliveries to spare.
For Sri Lanka Emerging, skipper Dellon Peiris came out with a valuable all-round performance when he made a run-a-ball 21, after claiming two scalps earlier on. The Sri Lankans were down by three wickets before reaching the double figures, until Shehan Fernando and Sakuna Liyanage steadied the innings.
Liyanage top scored with 26 runs, which came off 27 balls inclusive of a boundary, while Fernando made 24 off 28 deliveries. Skipper Peiris, who remained unbeaten on 21 when Sri Lanka reached the winning post, hit a boundary during his well composed knock.
For Japan medium paceman Kohei Kubota stood out with two wickets, after conceding just 18 runs off three overs. Wataru Miyauchi, Ryan Drake and Sri Lanka descendant Dinesh Sandaruwan picked a wicket each.
Batting earlier on Japan made a steady start with opener Kendei Fleming striking 43 off 29 deliveries while building up a good partnership with fellow opener Supun Nawaratne. Fleming, an experienced campaigner of the artificial pitch of Sano, also hit five fours and two sixes during his knock. Nawaratne made 14 off 25 deliveries with two boundaries but the rest of the batting lineup failed to spark after the dismissal of the two openers. Harsha Wickramasinghe and skipper Peiris claimed two wickets apiece while Danal Hemananda and Sithum Dissanayake grabbed one wicket each.
Sri Lanka Emerging won the two previous games played earlier – by 5 wickets and 63 runs – and will play two more games today and tomorrow before the series wraps up.
| Brief Scores | |
| Japan 97 for 9 (20) (Kendei Fleming 43, Supun Nawaratne 14, Sabaorish Ravichandran 11, Dinesh Sandaruwan 9n.o., Harshana Wickramasinghe 2/15, Dellon Peiris 2/23, Danal Hemantha 1/13, Sithum Dissanayake 1/15) Sri Lanka Emerging 101 for 6 (17.3) (Sakuna Liyanage 26, Shehan Fernando 24, Dellon Peiris 21n.o., Ranmith Jayasena 12, Kohei Kubota 2/18, Wataru Miyauchi ¼, Ryan Drake 1/15, Dinesh Sandaruwan 1/15) |