Angelo Mathews went just after, stumped as he played all over the turn Suresh Raina achieved, but Kandamby and Chamara Kapugedera - back in place for Thilan Samaraweera - got together to add 83 in 92 balls. As is required when a pair must build on the excellent work of a player before them, Kandamby and Kapugedera kept the scoring rate healthy. They weren't as belligerent as Jayasuriya but ran well, called loudly, and found the gaps.
There weren't any scoreless periods and the two negated Harbhajan well, with Kapugedera summoning the gumption to reverse-sweep four with superb placement. Kandamby made sure to cut out any ambitious swings through the off side, opting to run hard for must of his initial runs and only backed himself to play aggressive shots when the run rate needed a boost. Anything that was too full or too loose disappeared and plenty in between was pushed away for ones and twos by Kandamby. The boundary patrollers were kept on attention as he swatted and deflected regularly.
| 09:00 GMT | 14:30 Local 14:30 IST | Sri Lanka v India at Colombo (RPS), Compaq Cup, Final |
Domestic cricket in Sri Lanka is played between clubs recognised by the Sri Lankan cricket board. First-class cricket in Ceylon, as it was known before 1972, was initially restricted to matches played by combined Ceylon teams overseas or against touring international sides. England and Australia would often stop over in Colombo en route to their respective destinations and play matches. The first such match dates back to 1882, against the touring England side. It was only in 1937 when a structured inter-club first-class tournament came into being, known as the Daily News Trophy. The title was changed to P Saravanamuttu Trophy in 1950-51 and then the Robert Senanayake Trophy in 1976-77. Sponsors came into the picture in 1982-83, and it was renamed the Lakspray Trophy, and was later renamed the Sara Trophy eight seasons later. The tournament changed its title again in 1998-99 to the Premier Trophy. The Sinhalese Sports Club has won the tournament a record 29 times. Another popular trophy, the Gopalan Trophy - named after MJ Gopalan, the legendary Madras allrounder - was instituted in 1952-53. Madras and Ceylon were the teams, playing matches on a home and away basis.
