National Super League Limited Over Tournament

2024.03.10

Today (10), Sri Lanka Cricket conducted the National Super League, a one-day limited-overs cricket tournament, and Dambulu players became victorious. They defeated the Kandy team.

Columbo R. The Premadasa International Cricket Ground hosted this day/night match, which saw the Dambulu team defeat the Kandy team by a margin of 19 runs.

Dambulla Team: Minod Bhanuka (captain/wicket keeper), Lasith Kruspulle, Sanoj Darshika, Pawan Ratnayake, Ayana Siriwardena, Dushan Hemantha, Chamindu Wijesinghe, Sonal Dinusha, Vishwa Fernando, Mohammad Shirash, Ranesh Silva.

Kandy Team: Ahan Wickramasinghe (captain), Sitara Jumman (wicketkeeper), Lahiru Udara, Kamil Mishara, Thikshila de Silva, Pulina Tharanga, Chamika Gunasekara, Vanuja Sahan, Nimsara Thagalle, Kavin Bandara, Ashen Daniel.

The Dambulu players who won the toss selected the best At the international cricket ground, R. Premadasa made the decision to bat first. As a result, Lasith Kruspulle and skipper Minod Bhanuka opened the innings. After they put on a 96-run partnership for the first wicket, their captain’s choice seemed more logical.

It was Pulina Tharanga who became victorious in ending that partnership. Lasith Kruspulle faced 39 balls before one of them broke the wicket; he scored 36 runs with five fours.

Sanoj Darshika then came onto the pitch. Once more, Pulina Tharanga prevented him and captain Minod Bhanu from entering the field for an extended period of time. He was able to catch Minod Bhanuka off guard when he tried to hide the wicket at that moment. With six fours and three sixes in 62 balls at the time, Minod Bhanuka scored 69 runs.

Only then could the stressed wicket relationship of the Dambulu innings come together. There, Pawan Ratnayake and Sanoj Darshika put up 160 runs for the third wicket. They were together for 25 overs till Sanoj Darshika’s dismissal ended their romance.

With four fours and four sixes in 73 balls faced, Sanoj Darshika scored 73 runs.

Together with Ayana Siriwardena, Pawan Ratnayake—who was undefeated at the time—added a 53-run partnership for the fourth wicket. With a four and a six, Ayana Siriwardena scored 21 runs off of 17 balls.

Pawan Ratnayake faced 108 balls and finished the first quarter of the match with 118 runs unbeaten, 10 fours, and 3 sixes, while Dushan Hemantha scored 6 runs unbeaten with a four in 3 balls.

That disaster had to be experienced by the Kandy squad, who had come into the field looking to score 333 runs. This happened right from the first wicket. because in the eighth delivery of the innings, Sitara Jumman, who opened the innings, was forced to give up his wicket.

Kandy’s innings had ended with seven runs at that point. Although the permission thrilled the Dambulu players much, they lost control of the game after Lahiru Udara and Kamil Mishara combined for 149 runs for the second wicket.

Lahiru Udara faced 50 balls before being bowled out for 86 runs with 10 fours and 4 sixes, ending the partnership. Alongside him, Kamil Mishara constructed the Kandy innings, hitting 94 runs with 12 fours off of 95 balls faced.

The Kandy players’ hopes of victory were dimmed when Vanuja Sahan, who batted first for the team from the back row during the innings, faced 37 balls and scored 44 runs with three fours and a six. Meanwhile, Kavin Bandara (09), captain Ahan Wickramasinghe (13), Pulina Tharanga (10), Chamika Gunasekara (0), and Ashen Daniel (5) were removed from the game due to low scores.

After 29 balls, their innings was limited to 313 runs. At that point, Nimsara Thargalle and Vanuja Sahan joined each other for the final wicket, adding 41 runs to the partnership. Nimsara Tharangalla faced 14 balls in that encounter and scored 15 runs, including two sixes.

Ayana Siriwardena and Dushan Hemantha both took three wickets in the process of taking wickets. Furthermore, Vishwa Fernando and Sonal Dinusha each claimed a wicket, and Muhammad Shirash claimed two wickets. The hope for success was a long way off.

332 for 4 (50.0) in Dambulla Pawan Ratnayake 118 not out, Minod Bhanuka 69, Lasith Kruspulle 36, Sanoj Darshika 73, Ayana Siriwardena 21 and Pulina Tharanga 2/68.

313 all out for Kandy (45.3) 86 for Lahiru Udara, 94 for Kamil Mishara, 19 for Theekshila de Silva, 44 not out for Vanuja Sahan, 2/42 for Mohammad Shiraz, 3/63 for Dushan Hemantha, and 3/58 for Ayana Siriwardena

By 19 runs, Dambulla prevailed.

@charith