DCC Starlets’ young medium pacer Sailles Jaishankar’s five wicket haul downs Sri Lions in another CBFS T20 thriller

By K.R. Nayar

Sailles Jaishankar, a young medium pacer, bowled the spirited bunch of young DCC Starlets to a thrilling four runs win over experienced Sri Lions in the 11^th match of the CBFS T20 match at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Saturday. The DCC Starlets-Sri Lions match was the first doubleheader of the day and Sailles Jaishankar through a spell of five for 31 restricted Sri Lions to 161 in 20 overs after DCC Starlets had posted 165 for 6 in 20 overs through Ahaan Fernandes’s unbeaten knock of 58 and skipper Ronak Panoly’s 45 runs.

Ronak Panoly, after winning the toss and electing to bat, himself came out to bat with Shrey Sethi. Fresh from his unbeaten knock of 114 against Karwan Cricket Club in his previous CBFS T20 match, Ronak Panoly unleashed his strokes.  He put on 60 runs in 5.1 overs before getting bowled to a beauty from Sri Lions’ accurate left-arm spinner Vimukthi Kulathunga. Six runs later, Shrey Sethi too followed, outfoxed by off spinner Withanawasam Ramesh who got him stumped by wicketkeeper Tharaka Dananjaya for 14.

Ahaan Fernandes quickly settled down and began to strike beautifully along with Punya Mehra to take the score to 139 for 3 when Vimukthi Kulathunga struck again to remove Mehra for 30. Ammar Badami joined Ahaan Fernandes and steered the team past the 150 run mark. At the score of 159, the tall and accurate pacer Vikum Sanjay Banadara clean bowled Ammar Badami for 7.

Vikum Banadara then went on to strike repeatedly clean bowling Adithya Shetty for 5 and trapping Karan Dhiman leg before for a duck. Ahaan Fernandes remained unbeaten on 58 off 46 balls with four boundaries and three sixes to take DCC Starlets to a total of 165 for 8 in 20 overs.

Considering the batting strength of Sri Lions, this was a gettable total. What followed was a spectacular display of spirited bowling, excellent fielding, and shrewd planning from the Dubai Starlets on the field. Sailles Jaishanker picked his first victim removing opener Waruna Perera with the fourth ball of the first over for 3.  One-drop Charuka Raveen fell in the third over to Sailles Jaishanker for 9.

Prashath Kumara looked like settling down when at the score of 46, 14-year-old pacer Yug Sharma clean bowled him for 23. Two runs later Ronak Panoly trapped opener Suranga Patthiranahewa leg before for 9.

Four down for 48, the pressure began to mount. Sasika Samarajeewa and Withanawasam Ramesh Nimantha held on to take the score to 80 in 9.3 overs when Saaed Abdullah struck to remove Sasika Samarajeewa, who hit a breezy 26 off 13 balls with three sixes and a boundary. One run later, Tharaka Dananjaya got clean bowled to Adithya Shetty for a duck. Ronak Panoly made it tougher by having Harsha Aishek stumped by wicketkeeper Vaibhav Vaswani for 7.

Sailles Jaishankar returned to have Withanawasam Ramesh Nimantha clean bowled for 35. Vikum Sanjay Banadara lit up hopes of a victory for Sri Lions through some big hits. He cracked 35 runs off 14 balls with four sixes and two boundaries. But Sailles ended Vikum’s knock by having him caught by Ahaan Fernandes at long on. He then went on to clean bowl Vimukthi Kulathunga for 3 to produce a five wicket haul and ensure DCC Startlets an exciting four runs victory.

Toyam Sports Limited and Our Souq are the support sponsors for the CBFS T20 League. Seven Districts is the Merchandiser partner - Orange Cap, and Toss partner is Arba Sports Services LLC.

Brief scores:
DCC Starlets bt Sri Lions by four runs. DCC Starlets 165 for 6 in 2o overs (Ronak Panoly 45, Ahaan Fernandez 58n.o, Punya Mehra 30, Vikum Sanjay Banadara 3 for 40, Vimukthi Kulathunga 2 for 30) Sri Lions 161 in 20 overs (Prashath Kumara 23, Withanawasam Ramesh Nimantha 35, Sasika Samarajeewa 26, Vikum Sanjay Banadara 35, Sailles Jaishankar 5 for 31, Ronak Panoly 2 for 23)  
Our Souq Player of the Match: Sailles Jaishankar