Sanath and Upul steer Ruhuna to a thrilling 4 run win

Sanath Jayasuriya bowling at the Olam Cup 2010 at Singapore.

(Thanks to Critically Cricket for the Image)

Dashing opener Upul Tharanga hit a top score of 93 and veteran Sanath Jayasuriya snapped up four wickets to help Ruhuna Province pull off a thrilling four runs victory over the unbeaten Kandurata team in a key SLC Inter Provincial limited overs cricket tournament match worked off at the Galle Stadium yesterday.

Kandurata chasing a modest 213 runs recovered well after a bad start before falling short by just four runs with two balls to spare. All rounder Jeewan Mendis was the last man out for a fighting 59 which included one six and two boundaries.

Jayasuriya who opened the bowling along with Sachithra Senanayake, caused most of the damage with the best figures of four wickets for 26 runs. Earlier Upul Tharanga hammered a magnificent 93 from 135 balls with seven boundaries to steer Ruhuna to 213 runs after they had won the toss and elected to bat first.

Ruhuna: 213 in 50 overs (U.Tharanga 93, S. Jayasuriya 25, D. Chandimal 25, K. Kulasekera 21, S. Senanayake 22, M. Muralitharan 3 for 47, S. Randiv 3 for 29, D. Fernando 2 for 29).

Kandurata: 209 in 49.4 overs (T. Samaraweera 55, K. Sangakkara 18, C. Kapugedera 32, J. Mendis 59, C. Jayasinghe 20, S. Senanayake 2 for 29, S. Jayasuriya 4 for 26, L. Malinga 2 for 55).

Jayasuriya hits form as Ruhuna humiliate SLC Combined XI

Galle : Veteran cricketer Sanath Jayasuriya returned to form as Ruhuna humiliated Sri Lanka Cricket Combined XI in the BOC Inter - Provincial Cup match here today.

SLCC XI won the toss, and elected to field. Openers Tharanga and Jayasuriya put up a good partnership 108 runs in 19.4 overs.

Sanath Jayasuriya top scored in the match with a 86 ball 87 which included a sixer and 11 boundaries. Ruhuna ended up at a 293 for 6 wickets in 50 overs.

In reply, Sri Lanka Cricket Combined XI were tormented by Ruhuna bowlers, especially Lasith Malinga who claimed 4 wickets for 21 in his 8 overs.

Bhanuka Rajapaksa was the only batsmen who offered some resistance to the Ruhuna attack scoring a decent 59 runs.

Ruhuna Won the match by 191 and earned 5 points.

Jayasuriya to participate in Sri Lanka's provincial tournament

After a minblowing performance in the IAT20 Olam cup in Singapore, Sanath Jayasuriya is all set to play for Ruhuna in the provincial tounrnament.

Sri Lanka's much anticipated 50-over provincial cricket tournament commences on February 6 with 76 cricketers, including all the national players, for the championship being contested by six teams - five provincial sides and a Sri Lanka Cricket Invitation XI. This tournament will be followed by the Provincial Twenty20 and the Provincial League. The matches will be played at Colombo, Kurunegala, Galle and the newly constructed cricket stadium at Pallakele.

The 50-over championship is scheduled for February 6 to 21, the Twenty20 from February 24 to March 7 and the League from March 18 to May 9. The Twenty20 has been timed properly to prepare the national cricketers ahead of the ICC World Twenty20 in the Caribbean at the end of April.

Last season the League leg was not played due to the unavailability of several players to national duty. Sri Lanka's largest banking sector, Bank of Ceylon, has stepped in to sponsor the three tournaments.