Mathews warms up for Afghanistan Test with century

Saturday, 27 January 2024 01:08 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Angelo Mathews and Pavan Ratnayake were involved in a double century stand for champions Dambulla

Jaffna gains first innings lead against Kandy

Jeffrey Vandersay took four wickets to give Jaffna the lead over Kandy

Former Sri Lanka skipper Angelo Mathews got himself some useful batting practice in the middle ahead of next month’s one-off Test against Afghanistan when he scored his 30th first-class hundred to help defending champions Dambulla pile up an imposing score of 530 against Colombo on the second day of the National Super League 4-day match played at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium yesterday.

Mathews struck 17 fours and a six in his knock of 146 off 275 balls and with 21-year-old Pavan Ratnayake who made 130 off 220 balls (12 fours, 4 sixes) put on 253 for the fourth wicket. But once the partnership was broken at 480, Dambulla lost their last seven wickets for 50 runs.

By the close Colombo had made a bold reply scoring 98-1 with Test batters Dimuth Karunaratne unbeaten on 42 scored off 50 balls (6 fours) and Kusal Mendis, the Colombo captain on 29*. Jaffna took a firm grip of their match against Kandy at the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium, Hambantota. By the end of the second day Jaffna had gained an overall lead of 165 after dismissing Kandy for 187 in reply to their total of 346.

From the moment Kandy lost their skipper Pathum Nissanka for a golden duck they were on the back foot trying to ward off the threat posed by the seam and spin of Pramod Madushan, Shashika Dulshan and Jeffrey Vandersay who finished with figures of 4/51. Apart from Ahan Wickramasinghe who made a top score of 51 (78 balls, 5 fours) none of the other batsmen were able to make a substantial contribution to the total. Earlier, Jaffna carried their overnight total from 309-7 to 346 with Lahiru Madushanka scoring 67 off 144 balls (6 fours, 1 six). Both matches will be continued on the third day today. – (ST)

Day two scores

At Pallekele: Dambulla 530 (o/n 287-3) (Leo Fransisco 87, Kamindu Mendis 115, Angelo Mathews 146, Pavan Ratnayake 130, Isitha Wijesundera 3/69, Lakshitha Manasinghe 3/129, Prabath Jayasuriya 2/103)

Colombo 98-1 at close (Dimuth Karunaratne 42*, Shevon Daniel 23, Kusal Mendis 29*)

At Hambantota: Jaffna 346 (o/n 309-7) (Nishan Madushka 38, Janith Liyanage 63, Dhananjaya de Silva 113, Lahiru Madushanka 67, Chamika Gunasekara 2/42, Chamika Karunaratne 3/51, Lasith Embuldeniya 2/103, Ashian Daniel 2/66) and 6-0 at close.

Kandy 187 (Lahiru Udara 23, Sahan Arachchige 22, Ahan Wickramasinghe 51, Chamika Karunaratne 25, Chamika Gunasekara 29, Pramod Madushan 2/25, Shashika Dulshan 2/46, Jeffrey Vandersay 4/51)