Jayasuriya and Fernando take Colombo to final in style A

As the heat mounted in the countdown to finding the finalists in the SLC Super Provincial Tournament, Colombo was first to the post upstaging Kandy by 4 wickets on day 6 on Wednesday at the R. Premadasa Stadium.

It was a truly remarkable all-round performance by Colombo anchored by the bowlers that set up Colombo’s win in consummate ease in what turned out to be an anti climax in what had carried a pre-match hype of a tight match. That was given the strong clout Kandy had enjoyed throughout the tournament having won all but one of their matches, and of course the fact that Colombo had limped in to the reckoning from a poor start to the tournament.

But Colombo, who had ascended on two back to back wins having lost the opener and tied the second game, did showcase the much needed team work that mattered when it came to the crunch game. It was Colombo’s all-rounder Shehan Jayasuriya, who came to the party in a continuation of his fine form so far. He claimed 3 wickets for 14 runs as Kandy folded up for 136 in only 31overs, and followed it up with an unbeaten top score of 30 to take his side home in 25.5 overs. As it is, Kandy’s batting line up was at sea against the tight bowling by the opposition with skipper Mahela Udawatte top scoring with 22. Jayasuriya was well supported by fast bowler Vishwa Fernando who collected 4 for 61.

Colombo will meet the winners of the Galle versus Dambulla match being played today at the same venue.

By Srian Obeyesekere

 -The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Sri Lanka Cricket-