National Super League Limited Over Oshada cracks 138; steers Kandy to big win

Kandy’s Oshada Fernando (138) plays a shot

By M. Shamil Amit

A fine knock of 138 in 141 balls, inclusive of 13 boundaries and four sixes by Oshada Fernando, paved the way for Kandy to record a big win by 156 runs against Dambulla in the National Super League League Limited Over tournament encounter played at the SSC ground yesterday.

Oshada’s knock helped Kandy, taking the first lease of the wicket, amass a score of 318/9 and he was associated in two fruitful partnerships; the first of 112 runs for the fourth wicket with skipper Kamindu Mendis, who made 43 runs, and the other of 83 runs for the fifth wicket with Sahan Arachchige, who chipped in with 28 runs.
Dambulla, in their turn, were never going to be in the run chase as they lost their top five wickets with the score on 74 runs in the 21st over. Despite a half-knock coming from skipper Ashan Priyanjan, they were able to muster a score of 163 runs to suffer their fourth successive defeat, while it was Kandy’s second win.
In another match of the same tournament played at P. Sara Stadium, Jaffna, helped by an all-round performance by skipper Dhananjana de Silva and a half-ton by Santhush Gunatileke, pulled off a comfortable 88-run win over Galle, who had their unbeaten record tarnished.

Jaffna, invited to take the first lease of the wicket, lost three early wickets with the score on 59 runs in the 11th over.

They recovered thanks to skipper Santhush, who made a top score of 57 and skipper Dhananjaya (55) who together put on a valuable 60 runs for the fourth wicket. Later, useful knocks coming from Ninanda Madusanka and Ishan Jayaratne enabled them to end up with a formidable score of 263 runs.

Galle, in their run chase, fell into deep trouble, losing their top five wickets with the score on 99 runs in the 18th over. From there on, they lost wickets at regular intervals and were bowled out for 175 runs, with skipper Dhananjaya bagging four scalps and Ishan Jayaratne doing the damage.

Results

At SSC – Kandy won by 156 runs
Kandy 318/9 in 50 overs (Oshada Fernando 138, Kamindu Mendis 43, Lasith Croospulle 32, Sahan Arachchige 28; Lahiru Samarakoon 4/87, Duvindu Tilekeratne 2/40)
Dambulla 163 in 42.1 overs (Ashan Priyanjan 50, Anuk Fernando 26, Gayan Maneeshan 21; Pulina Tharanga 3/39, Asitha Fernando 2/16, Kamindu Mendis 2/35)
At P Sara Stadium – Jaffna won by 88 runs
Jaffna 263 in 49.5 overs (Santhush Gunatileke 57, Dhananjaya de Silva 55, Nimanda Madusanka 35, Sadeera Samarawickrma 33; Dhananjaya Lakshan 3/37, Muditha Lakshan 3/44, Heshan Hettiarachchi 2/36)
Galle 175 in 36.2 overs (Jehan Daniel 36, Dhananjaya Lakshan 34, Pabasara Waduge 24, Himasha Liyanage 21; Dhananjaya de Silva 4/27, Ishan Jayaratne 2/27)