Gunawardene's 209 puts North Central in control

North Central Province 458 for 5 (Gunawardene 209, Kalavitigoda 59, Jayawardene 51, Dilshan 48*) lead Western Province 228 by 230 runs
Scorecard

Avishka Gunawardene's maiden double-century - actually it was his first hundred in first-class cricket since 2001-02 - put North Central Province in a string position against Western on the second day of their match at the Sinhalese Sports Club. Gunawardene, who smashed six sixes along with 22 fours, put on 182 for the first wicket with Shantha Kalavitigoda, who made 59, and later added 116 with Mahela Jayawardene. Chaminda Vaas was the only Western Province bowler to exercise much control, and finished with 3 for 69 from 21 overs. After Gunawardene was finally out for 209, North Central reached 458 for 5 by the close, a lead of 230.

An unbeaten century from Thilina Kandamby took Central Province close to Southern's first-innings total at the Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy. Kandamby ended the second day with 130 not out, just two short of his highest first-class score, and rescued his side after they had dipped to 58 for 5. That included three early strikes from Lasith Malinga, who finished with 3 for 66. Kandamby, who has so far hit 15 fours and two sixes, dominated an eighth-wicket partnership of 91 with Nisitha Rupasinghe, who contributed 21. Earlier Southern's No. 9 Suraj Mohamed, whose previous-highest score was just 19, advanced to 91 before Malinga finally fell for 27 after a last-wicket stand of 82 which lifted Southern to 336.