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Basnahira, Combined Provinces ease to wins

A round-up of the fifth day of matches at the Sri Lanka Cricket Inter-Provincial Twenty20

ESPNcricinfo staff
27-Jul-2011
Jeevantha Kulatunga hits out during his unbeaten knock of 69  •  Manoj Ridimahaliyadda

Jeevantha Kulatunga hits out during his unbeaten knock of 69  •  Manoj Ridimahaliyadda

An unbeaten half-century from Jeevantha Kulatunga fashioned Basnahira's 34-run win against Ruhuna at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo. Basnahira's top-order was solid, after Ruhuna put them in to bat. While Kulatunga, batting at No. 3, struck 69 off 47 with six fours and four sixes, the other batsmen in the top four contributed well to carry Basnahira to 166 for 3. The Ruhuna chase, apart from a short burst from opener Mahela Udawatte, lacked momentum. The batsmen failed to build on starts, and a mini-collapse halfway through the innings meant they stumbled from 74 for 3 to 78 for 6, putting Basnahira firmly in charge. Chathura Peiris and Tillakaratne Dilshan did most of the damage for Basnahira, claiming three wickets each in tight spells, as Ruhuna folded for 132 in the 19th over. The win puts Basnahira at the top of the points table.
After three losses, Combined Provinces turned out an improved performance, to beat Wayamba comprehensively in the second game of the day. Chasing 156, Combined Provinces eased past their target with seven wickets and nine balls to spare. The chase was built around a rapid 52 from Ashan Priyanjan, and cameos of 33 apiece from Dhanushka Gunathilleke and Jeevan Mendis. Earlier, after choosing to bat, Wayamba's line-up failed to build on starts - the only sizeable contribution was 41 from Chamara Silva. Chaminda Vidanapathirana, Ajantha Mendis and Sachith Pathirana combined to keep Wayamba to 155 for 7, claiming two wickets each while conceding just over a run a ball.

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Sri Lanka Cricket Inter-Provincial Twenty20 Tournament

TEAMMWLPTNRR
BASNA4316.941.363
RU4226.380.888
KANDU4225.2-0.845
Wayam4223.78-0.021
C-PRO4133.19-1.372