Kusal Mendis ton lifts Colombo to 300/9 vs Dambulla; Ravindu Rasantha 97 in Jaffna’s 201 vs Kandy 67/1
Kusal Mendis struck a belligerent 119 off 123 balls in lifting Colombo from a shaky 4 for 78 to a healthy 300 for 9 wickets against Dambulla at stumps on the opening day of the Sri Lanka National Super League 4-day fixture at the Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium yesterday.
Mendis fine-tuned his innings with 12 boundaries and 2 sixes in adding on 67 for the fifth wicket with skipper Charith Asalanka who score 43 off 70 hitting 4 boundaries and a six after Colombo opted to bat first on winning the toss. He added a further 96 for the seventh wicket together with Lahiru Madushanka 43 off 88 ith of 4 boundaries.
Akila Dananjaya took 3 wickets for 91 runs for Dambulla Dulaj Samuditha took 2 for 20, Mohamed Shiraj 2 for 48, Duvindu Tillakaratne 1 for 32 and Sonal Dinusha 1 for 47.
Meanwhile, Jaffna made 200 versus against Kandy after being put in to bat with only Ravindu Rasantha coming good with the bat scoring 97 off 198 balls containing 14 boundaries. Kandy were 67 for 1 wicket on the opening day of the National Super League game played at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium yesterday.
Chamindu Wickramasinghe took 5 wickets for 54 runs for Kandy haul for 54 runs with skipper Sahan Arachchige a next best 2 for 20.
Kandy had replied with 67 for the loss of the key wicket of Pathum Nissanka for 14 who fell to Tharindu Rathnayake holing out to Rasantha. However, he in form Janishka Perera 28 from 49 with 4 fours and Kamil Mishara 22 inclusive of 2 boundaries and a six took Kandy to 67 without further loss at stumps.
CHIEF SCORES:
Colombo vs Dambulla
Colombo 300/9 (76 Overs)
(Kusal Mendis 119, Charith Asalanka 43, Lahiru Madushanka 43, Asitha Wanninayake 38, Dhnanjaya Lakshan 12, Pramod Madushan n.o. 11, Nishan Peiris n.o. 2, Akila Dananjaya 3/91, Dulaj Samuditha 2/20, Mohamed Shiraj 2/48, Duvindu Tillakaratne 1/32, Sonal Dinusha 1/47.
Jaffna vs Kandy
Jaffna 201 (68.1 Overs)
(Ravindu Rasantha 97, Anjula Bandara 28, Tharindu Rathnayake 21, Kavishka Anjula 19, Chamindu Wickramasinghe 5/54, Sahan Arachchige 2 /20, Lahiru Kumara 1/14, Shiran Fernando 1/28, Sahan Nanayakkara 1/46)
Kandy 67/1 (17 Overs)
(Janishk Perera n.o. 28, Kamil Mishara n.o. 22, Pathum Nissanka 14, Tharindu Rathnayake 1/35)
