Daminda (left) receives the Man-of-the-Match award from an official after the match against Armed Forces on Tuesday.
KUCHING: Sarawak continued with their impressive run in the Malaysian Cricket Association (MCA) Premier League Tier A championship when they beat the Armed Forces by six wickets at Kinrara Oval on Tuesday.
But they have to thank batsman Daminda Ranaweera who overcame a dreadful start by hammering way past half a century to steal victory close to the end.
It was Sarawak’s second win in the league that lifted them to second spot behind Selangor after five games, finishing ahead of Pulau Pinang, Kuala Lumpur and Armed Forces.
Their first win was on May 18 where they beat Kuala Lumpur by 21 runs. Sarawak lost the opener to Armed Forces and also lost to Selangor in their third and fourth games.
In Tuesday’s match, Sarawak won the toss and elected to field first. They restricted the Armed Forces to a total of 158 runs in 43.4 overs.
Of the Armed Forces’ total, only Suharril Fetri Shuib’s 45 runs, Syahadat Ramli’s 41 runs and Nazri Mohd Noor’s 20 runs were the main contributors while others failed to post double figures.
Faruq Hakimin took three wickets for 30 runs while Maxwell Stephen A Madura took two wickets each for eight and 34 runs.
Sarawak went in to bat only to lose their first wicket off a direct hit run out in 2.1 overs with the score at 14 runs.
But opening batsman Daminda yielded a steady hand, dogged till the end to post his personal score of 77 runs to bring victory in 38.3 overs.
Others who contributed to the victory were Shafiq Sharif (39 runs), Ahmad Faiz Mohd Noor (16 runs) and H Ishan (10 runs).
Daminda was awarded the Man-of-the-Match medal.
‘It was a good win and we are happy with the team’s performance. We need to win three more matches and hope that Selangor will drop points in their next three matches,” said Sarawak Cricket Association secretary Gordon Chung Pei Nan.
“If that happens, our dream of becoming the champions will become a reality,” added Chung who is also vice president of the Malaysian Cricket Association.
Sarawak’s remaining matches were against Kuala Lumpur yesterday and against Pulau Pinang on Saturday and Sunday to round up their campaign this season.