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SLC
inter-provincial tournament review
Wayamba
closes in on table leaders Basnahira North
By
M Naushad Amit
With just another week’s play left in the Sri Lanka
Cricket Inter-Provincial tournament, Basnahira North,
who finished all their matches, are on top with 41.835
points and looking forward to enter the finals which
is scheduled from March 19 to 22 at R. Premadasa Stadium.
However the high riding Basnahira North suffered a first
innings loss in their high scoring drawn four-day encounter
against Wayamba at Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium
last weekend. Choosing to bat first, Basnahira North
went on to score 374 with in-form batsman Angelo Mathews
scoring an elegant 118 off 179 balls. Isuru Udana was
the most successful bowler with figures of 4 for 98.
Wayamba were strongly placed at the end of the second
day at 212-3 and passed the opponents total by going
on to score 421 thanks to a double century partnership
between skipper Jehan Mubarak and Lanka de Silva who
both went on to complete hundreds.
Basnahira North were struggling in the second innings
to avoid defeat losing four of the top order batsmen
for 42 by the close of the penultimate day but Mathews
with a patient knock of 44 off 93 balls supported by
Silva who took the responsibility on his shoulders and
went on to score a match saving 100 runs and Gayan Wijekoon
who remained unbeaten on 62 helped Basnahira North recover
and draw the match.
Ruhuna who were behind at No.5 progressed to the third
spot after beating Kandurata by 87 runs within three
days at R. Premadasa Stadium. Ruhuna elected to bat
first and scored a reasonable 268 runs with opener Upul
Tharanga falling short by two runs of a well deserved
century while Dilhara Lokuhettige ran short of partners
as he stood unbeaten on 61 when the Ruhuna innings ended.
Chaminda Vidanapathirana took 4 for 71 while Jeewan
Mendis claimed 3 for 43. Kandurata went on to score
206 runs with none of their batsmen achieving a half-century.
Sujeewa de Silva, Tyron Gamage, Sachitra Senanayake
and Dilhara Lokuhettige took two wickets each. Ruhuna
had the game in control after that but the wicket seemed
to have turned bowler-friendly as they were dismissed
for 213 in their second innings just before lunch giving
their opponents an easy target of 276 runs with a day
and over two sessions remaining. But the unexpected
took place when the Kandurata batsmen lost their consistency
and were bowled out for 188 just before the end of day
three. It was a collective effort by their bowlers that
enabled Ruhuna record an astonishing 87-run victory.
With 16.405 points from their win Ruhuna are set to
make a big impact in the coming week but things are
too late for them as the top two teams are well ahead
in points. Ruhuna accumulated 23.76 points in total
while Kandurata, after their loss, remains at No.4 with
23.26 points. Basnahira South is at the bottom with
20.79 points.
In the final week of the Inter-Provincial tournament
Basnahira South is set to take on Ruhuna at the Colts
ground while Kandurata and Wayamba will meet at Rangiri
Dambulla Stadium in their four-day matches. Both matches
will begin tomorrow.
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