Tamil Nadu level FC de Saram series

Tamil Nadu beat Colombo District Cricket Association by 57 runs in the third and the final one-day FC de Saram trophy match to level the three-match series.

CDCA brought in regular wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene allowing TM Dilshan to concentrate on his batting at the expense of Michael Vandort while Kaushalya Weeraratne came in for Rangana Herath.

Tamil Nadu, who won the toss and elected to bat first, were bowled out for a modest 227. J Madanagopal top scored with a 67 in 95 balls. S Saravanan made 51 in 72 balls. The pair added 85 runs for the fourth wicket, which was the highest partnership of the match.

Gayan Wijekoon bowled well for the visitors picking up six Tamil wickets for 33 runs. Dinusha Fernando and Muttumudaligge Pushpakumara picked up two apiece.

The Sri Lankan openers Jehan Mubarak (8) and Gayan Wijekoon (19) failed to deliver the goods and the visitors never recovered from the early set back as the home side picked up wickets at regular intervals.

In fact, they paid dearly for picking up just three specialist batsmen and packing the side with all-rounders.

From the top order batsmen, only first match century maker, TM Dilshan, contributed, scoring 28. Skipper Thilan Samaraweera made a face saving 26 while Upul Chandana, batting down the order made the highest score of 37 off 53 balls. CDCA ended up making 170 in 43.3 overs.

In the bowling department R Ramkumar picked up three wickets for 33 and was named the man of the match.

CDCA won the first game on Sunday by one wicket while the second match on Monday was washed out without a ball being bowled. The four-day match for the Gopalan trophy will start October 19.