Wayamba stun Ruhuna

Chris DHAMBARAGE

CRICKET: Mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis returned to form with a three wicket burst as Wayamba Province scored an upset five wicket victory over the table leaders Ruhuna Province in their SLT Inter Provincial Twenty20 cricket tournament match worked off at the SSC grounds in Maitland Place yesterday.

Mendis returned outstanding bowling figures of three wickets for 14 from 3.4 overs as Ruhuna Province were skittled out for 127 in the penultimate over of the innings. However they were cruising along towards a big total at one stage after skipper Sanath Jayasuriya had provided a flying start to the innings.

The dashing left hand opening batsman plundered 45 runs from just 23 deliveries inclusive of two sixes and half a dozen of boundaries to set the pace for a match winning total. But with the introduction of spinner Ajantha Mendis the game took a dramatic turn with Ruhuna Province losing wickets at regular intervals.

Middle order batsman Indika de Saram who hit a career best 94 in the previous outing against Basnahira North made a desperate attempt to pull his side from total disaster but the rest of the batting simply collapsed against the spin duo of Ajantha Mendis and Kaushal Lokuarachchi.

Wayamba Province then reached their target from only 17.1 overs with opener Mahela Udawatte leading the way. The dynamic batsman smashed 51 runs from 36 deliveries with the aid of one six and seven boundaries.

Former Sri Lanka skipper Mahela Jayawardena also returned to form and added the finishing touches with a 28 ball 37 while stroking four boundaries. He also put on 65 runs for the third wicket with Udawatte.

Ruhuna: 127 in 18.4 overs (S. Jayasuriya 45, I. de Saram 22, A. Mendis 3 for 14, K. Lokuarachchi 2 for 16).

Wayamba: 130 for 5 in 17.1 overs (M. Udawatte 51, M. Jayawardena 37).

Easy for Kandurata

Meanwhile Kandurata Province produced a fine all round performance to beat the Sri Lanka Schools XI by six wickets in their SLT Inter Provincial Twenty20 cricket tournament match played at the Police Park yesterday.

The schoolboys could master only 101 for 8 from their 20 overs with Chaturanga de Silva making a top score of 26 with two boundaries. They of course made a good comeback on the field by reducing the strong Kandurata batting side for 66 for 4 at one stage following some splendid bowling from Imesh Udayanga.However all rounder Chinthaka Jayasinghe rescued Kandurata Province from further humiliation while stroking an unbeaten 35 from just 17 deliveries which contained one six and four boundaries.

Schools XI: 101 for 8 in 20 overs (D. Chandimal 18, B. Rajapaksa 17, K. Perera 19, C. de Silva 26).

Kandurata: 102 for 4 in 12.5 overs (T. Paranavithana 36, C. Jayasinghe 35 n.o., I. Udayanga 2 for 15).

Basnahira South triumph

Leg spinner Malinga Bandara snapped up three wickets for 18 as Basnahira South edged out Basnahira North by 13 runs in their SLT Inter Provincial Twenty20 cricket tournament match played at the SSC grounds in Maitland Place yesterday.

Basnaira North were cruising along towards their target at one stage following some good contributions opener Amal Athulathmudali (35) Thilina Kandamby (20) and Angelo Mathews (20).

However Basnahira South came back into the game strongly and put the brakes on the scoring rate with the help of Malinga Bandara who returned excellent figures of three wickets for 18 from his four overs with skipper Tillekeratne Dilshan providing the back up support.

Basnahira South: 158 for 8 in 20 overs (C. Silva 19, L. Thirimanna 70, M. Siriwardena 17, D. Dharshanapriya 2 for 23, A. Mathews 3 for 32).

Basnahira North: 145 for 8 in 20 overs (A. Athulathmudali 35, T. Kandamby 20, A. Mathews 20, M. Pushpakumara 24 n.o., M. Bandara 3 for 18, T. Dilshan 2 for 14).