Kusal Mendis hammered his first century in the inaugural Army Commander’s T20 Cricket League but his Eastern Warriors team lost by two wickets to Northern Warriors at the Dombagoda ground in Kalutara yesterday.
Mendis scored an unbeaten 113 runs in 66 balls with 11 boundaries and five sixes in a total of 166 but Northern Warriors reached the target with three balls to spare as Seekkuge Prasanna hit a quick-fire 67 to lead the charge.
Prasanna the skipper made his 67 off 29 balls with seven sixes and four fours and reached his 50 in just 17 balls which marked the fastest in the tournament.
He hit 28 runs in one over bowled by Thulina Dilshan while Dasun Shanaka made 59 with four sixes and three fours.
In another match of the same tournament yesterday at the same venue Western Warriors beat Southern Warriors by 55 runs to lead the points table with three wins.
Western Warriors have in the process earned 12 points from five matches.
Southern Warriors recorded three wins so far and earned 12 points after beating Eastern Warriors twice and Northern Warriors. They lost to Western Warriors twice.
Avishka Fernando from Western Warriors made 56 in 38 balls with four boundaries and three sixes as he and Harshajith Virendra (23) put on 71 for first wicket.
Dinesh Chandimal representing Southern Warriors made 67 in 38 balls with two boundaries and seven sixes as he and Thushan de Zoysa (24) put on a 71-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Scores:
Eastern Warriors: 166/5 in 20 overs (Kusal Mendis 113 n.o., Thulina Dilshan 10, Asela Gunaratne 10, Shihan De Silva 1/16)
Northern Warriors: 167/8 in 19.3 overs (Seekkuge Prasanna 67, Dasun Shanaka 59, Sanjeew Coomaraswamy 2/14, Hashan Sandeepa 2/18)
Western Warriors: 175/8 in 20 overs (Avishka Fernando 56, Samitha Wanigasekera 32, Yashoda Mendis 25, Harshajith Virendra 23, Thisara Perera 13, Dhammika Prasad 12, Madushan Bothotage 2/39)
Southern Warriors: 120 in 17.3 overs (Dinesh Chandimal 67, Thushan Zoyza 24, Gihan Koralage 13n.o., Harshajith Virendra 3/32, Thisara Perera 2/11, Gayan Chandrabosh 2/14)
(YK)