Thursday May 14, 2026
Thursday May 14, 2026
Wednesday, 6 May 2026 01:45 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Sa’adi Thawfeeq
Two promising right-arm seamers Kavindu Pathiratne and Chamod Battage took centre stage on day two of the National Super League 4-day final at the R Premadasa Cricket Stadium yesterday.
Under cloudy conditions they made the ball seam much to the discomfort of the batsmen who once again were guilty of playing rash shots that led to their dismissals. So far it has been the bowlers who have held sway with only one half-century being scored.
Pathiratne, the former 23-year-old right-arm fast bowler from Royal College produced one of his best bowling performances to rout Colombo for 146 and give Dambulla a vital first innings lead of 76.
However, Battage, a 25-year-old right-arm seamer formerly from Matara Rahula College, kept Colombo in the game by grabbing 4 wickets for 21 runs to have Dambulla struggling at 107-6 in their second innings. Dambulla who scored 222-9 declared in their first innings held onto an overall lead of 183 with four wickets in hand going into the third day today.
While Pathiratne creamed the top and middle order of the Colombo batting to finish with figures of 5/15 off 13 overs, versatile spinner Akila Dananjaya did the mopping up operations cleaning up the tail taking 3/17.
When play continued on the second day Colombo were already on the back foot having lost two wickets for 12 and they were soon deep in trouble at 28-5 when Pathiratne picked up the wickets of night-watchman Prabath Jayasuriya for 19, the in-form Janith Liyanage for a golden duck and Nuwanidu Fernando for four.
Skipper Charith Asalanka (27) and Sharujan Shanmuganathan (44 off 68 balls, 7 fours) staged a partial recovery stitching together a partnership of 61, but once they were separated, apart from Kavija Gamage’s contribution of 25 there was hardly any resistance forthcoming and Colombo were soon back in the pavilion with 51 overs remaining to be bowled for the day.
With a healthy first innings lead Dambulla started off confidently with Nishan Madushka (43) and Vishad Randika (21) posting an opening stand of 56. But Battage, introduced into the attack in the 16th over, broke through with his first ball by getting through the defences of Randika. He ended Madushka’s 62-ball innings (8 fours) by having him caught and then struck a double blow in his fourth over. On either side of the drinks break he got rid of Lasith Croospulle for 14 and Pavan Rathnayake for one to end the day on a high.
The game stands poised for an early finish with an outright result quite imminent especially with two more days left.
Scores:
Dambulla 222-9 decl. and 107-6 at close (Nishan Madushka 43, Vishad Randika 21, Chamod Battage 4/21)
Colombo 146 (o/n 12-2) (Sharujan Shanmuganathan 44, Charith Asalanka 27, Kavija Gamage 25, Kavindu Pathiratne 5/51, Akila Dananjaya 3/17)
