September 22, Port Elizabeth: Wayamba displayed a stunning bowling master class to outclass the Stags by a whopping 74-run margin at Port Elizabeth’s St. George’s Park in the last encounter that the two sides face in the tournament.
Electing to bat after winning the toss, Wayamba looked like they were in a trance right from the outset. Opener Jeevantha Kulatunga looked out of sorts right from the word go and he was put out of his misery in the third over by Michael Mason. Wayamba’s star man Mahela Jayawardene (20) looked good during his short stint at the crease but he became seamer Mitchell McClenaghan’s first victim after holing out at mid-on. His namesake Mahela Udawatte, meanwhile, lost all sense of purpose during his painful 23 off 37 balls, and eventually was deceived by a Jamie How delivery.
The Sri Lankan side just couldn’t come to terms with the Stags slowing the pace down as often as possible. Skipper Jehan Mubarak (30) was the only man looking capable of breaking free from the Stags’ shackles. And it did look like it was Mubarak’s day after he hoiked a Kieran Noema-Barnett delivery over the long-off boundary for a six, but he too gave Mason some catching practice off the very next delivery. The paucity of runs ensured that Wayamba went for it eventually but lost both Kaushal Lokuarachchi (12) and Kushal Janith Perera (1) trying to up the ante. There was a glimmer of hope for Wayamba in the form of some big hitting from Thisara Perera (12*) and Shalika Karunanayake (15*) in the final overs which propelled their score to an honourable 144/6.
Buoyed by their good bowling performance, Kiwi openers Jamie How and Peter Ingram must have expected an easy road home. But they were in for a surprise - Ajantha Mendis set the ball rolling after trapping How right in front. And Isuru Udana took over from him in the devastating third over. Udana’s intelligence was duly rewarded with a hat-trick as he dismissed Brad Patton, Mathew Sinclair and George Worker off consecutive deliveries. Patton misread the slower one and looped a catch to the keeper; Sinclair lost his balance and got stumped off a leg side wide; and Worker was castled to reduce the Kiwis to 16/4. Opener Ingram, who saw the wreckage from the other end, couldn’t handle the pressure either as Mendis got his scalp.
Kieran Noema-Barnett tried to slog his way out of trouble but was sent packing by Rangana Herath in the sixth over, with the Stags reeling at 36/6. It just wasn’t working for the Kiwis as Herath got Diamanti caught behind to get his second wicket of the match. Waymba preserved their best for last as Mubarak then took a blinder of a catch to see the back of Bevan Griggs. The Stags were falling like 10 pins and were eventually skittled out for just 70.
Brief Scores – Wayamba Elevens 144 for 6 (Jehan Mubarak 30, Mahela Udawatte 23, Michael Mason 2-16) beat
Central Stags 70 all out (Bevan Griggs 19,Ajantha Mendis 3-14, Isuru Udana3-22) by 74 runs.
Man-of-the-match – Isuru Udana, for his fantastic hat-trick that set the ball rolling for a stunning Stags collapse.
No comments:
Post a Comment