The Greens won the T20 League title organized by Sri Lanka Cricket yesterday (16). It is noteworthy that they achieved this victory while remaining undefeated in the tournament.
In the final match between the Greens and the Greys at the SSC ground in Colombo, the Greens, who won the toss and elected to bat first, scored 189 runs for the loss of 4 wickets, while in reply, the Greys, who entered the field, scored only 166 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in their innings.
The opponents, who entered the field to bat first, managed to remove the first wicket of the Greens in the very first ball of the match. Kamil Mishara was dismissed for a run off the first ball they faced.
But the skills of Kusal Mendis and Bhanuka Rajapaksa helped to overcome that unfortunate situation. Together, they added a 56-run partnership for the second wicket in 41 balls. The partnership for that wicket was broken when Bhanuka Rajapaksa was dismissed after scoring 18 runs in 16 balls with 2 fours.
After that, Sadeera Samarawickrama, who joined Kusal Mendis, added a 55-run partnership for the third wicket in 33 balls. The partnership was broken when Kusal Mendis was dismissed. At that time, he had scored 77 runs in 47 balls with 5 fours and 5 sixes.
As a result, Sadeera Samarawickrama and skipper Kamindu Mendis managed to keep their wickets intact as the innings ended. The two of them put on an unbeaten 77 runs for the 5th wicket in 41 balls.
At the end of the Greens innings, Sadeera Samarawickrama was unbeaten on 49 runs off 29 balls, hitting 7 fours. Kamindu Mendis was unbeaten on 42 runs off 23 balls, hitting 6 fours and a six.
In the wicket-taking, Vijayakant Vyaskanth took 2 wickets for 45 runs while Ramesh Mendis also took a wicket.
In reply, Dinesh Chandimal and Niroshan Dickwella got the Greys off to a good start. They put on 70 runs for the first wicket in 37 balls.
The partnership for that wicket was broken with the dismissal of Dinesh Chandimal. Lahiru Udara was then dismissed for one run and Niroshan Dickwella was dismissed as the third wicket of the innings. By then, he had scored 50 runs off 28 balls with the help of 5 fours and 3 sixes.
After his dismissal, the highest run-scorer for the Greys was skipper Charith Asalanka. He scored 21 runs off 21 balls with a six. In addition, Ramesh Mendis scored 14 runs off 12 balls with a six and Nuwanindu Fernando scored 13 runs off 15 balls with a four.
In terms of wicket-taking, Chamika Karunaratne took 3 wickets for 24 runs, while Kamindu Mendis and Dushmantha Chamira took 2 wickets each and Kamil Mishara took one wicket.
Match Summary
Team Greens – 189 for 4 (20.0) Kusal Mendis 77, Bhanuka Rajapaksa 18, Sadeera Samarawickrama 49 not out, Kamindu Mendis 42 not out, Vijayakant Viyaskanth 2/45
Team Greys – 166 for 8 (20.0) Dinesh Chandimal 36, Niroshan Dickwella 50, Charith Asalanka 21, Dushmantha Chameera 2/26, Kamindu Mendis 2/25, Chamika Karunaratne 3/24
Team Greens won by 23 runs.
Man of the Match – Kusal Mendis (Team Green)
Man of the Tournament – Chamika Karunaratne (Team Green)