Madushanka misses out on double century; rain halts Jaffna’s push for victory

By Sa’adi Thawfeeq

Sri Lanka white ball cricketer Lahiru Madushanka missed out scoring a maiden first-class double century by six runs, but his captain’s knock of 194 enabled Jaffna who were shot out for 130 in the first innings to recover and make a strong comeback in the second innings posting a total of 584-9 declared and set themselves with the task of beating table leaders Galle on the fourth and final day of their National Super League four-day match concluded at the Galle Cricket Stadium yesterday.

However, only 14.2 overs were possible during which period Jaffna captured three Galle wickets for 50 runs when bad light and rain curtailed play for the rest of the day forcing the match to end in a draw. Galle, facing a gigantic task of chasing 457 runs for victory, took first innings points by virtue of their lead in the first innings to retain their lead at the top of the table.

Until Madushanka came to the crease Jaffna who trailed Galle by 128 runs on the first innings were in dire straits of losing the match as they slumped to 219-6 – a lead of 91 with four second innings wickets in hand. Madushanka led a superb rear-guard action in the company of the tail to swell the total by a massive 358 runs for the loss of three further wickets. With Ravindu Fernando (73 off 114 balls, 6 fours, 2 sixes) Madushanka added 165 for the seventh wicket, with Binura Fernando (34 off 59 balls, 2 fours, 1 six) a further 80 for the eighth wicket and with Jeffrey Vandersay (50* off 95 balls, 8 fours) 113 for the ninth wicket. Madushanka was eventually dismissed having hit 21 fours and six sixes in a 238-ball innings. A sterling innings of 186 not out by Sri Lanka wicketkeeper/batsman Minod Bhanuka saw Dambulla score 401 in their second innings and leave Colombo with the tall task of chasing 486 to win. Colombo who had already conceded a first innings lead of 84 runs to Dambulla didn’t make any great effort to chase down the target but was forced to settle for a draw with bad light also holding up play. Skipper Bhanuka who resumed his innings at 108 – his 15th first-class hundred, was left unconquered on 186 scored off 216 balls (19 fours, 3 sixes) when the innings ended at 401. Dushan Vimukthi ended up taking five wickets with his off breaks. National cricketer Kusal Perera making a comeback after a long lay-off from a shoulder injury made 0 and 24 for Colombo.