Chinthaka jayasinghe

Baroda Cricket Association Stadium: Sri Lanka Masters rode on a sensational 51-ball century from Upul Tharanga and an equally aggressive half-century from Lahiru Thirimanne to defeat Australia Masters by three wickets in a league match of the International Masters League (IML) 2025 here on Friday. After an electrifying start in Navi Mumbai, the action in the inaugural IML shifted to Vadodara, where a sizeable crowd witnessed the first match.

Chasing 218, the early loss of Kumar Sangakkara could have been a setback for Sri Lanka Masters, but Tharanga (102 off 54 balls) and Thirimanne (53 off 34 balls) had other plans. The left-handed duo stitched together a sublime 153-run second-wicket stand to set the tone in a display of effortless stroke-making reminiscent of their finest years. Tharanga, who got off to a cautious start, took a special liking for Daniel Christian, depositing the medium pacer for a couple of sixes and a four to bring up a 31-ball fifty.

And then the floodgates opened, as Tharanga, who received a reprieve on 83, launched an all-out assault, taking the Australia Masters bowlers to task. Thirimanne, who till then had been happy to rotate the strike, changed gears, reviving memories of Sri Lanka’s golden era of fearless, free-flowing cricket. In the process, Thirimanne got to his fifty with a boundary off Nathan Coulter-Nile.