Air Force and Army to lock horns in Women’s T20 Final

Air Force SC (A) and Army SC (A) overcame strong competition from Navy SC (A) and Colts Cricket Club respectively to claim their spots in the Final of the Women’s Cricket Division I T20 tournament to be held on Sunday at the CCC Grounds.

1st Semi-final – Air Force SC (A) vs Navy SC (A) at Colts Cricket Club Grounds

Over the past couple of games when these two teams have met, Navy A had proven to be the more dominant team, however, this time it was Air Force’s chance to turn the tables on their counterparts.

Winning the toss and batting 1st, Navy SC got off to a good start although they lost Prasadini Weerakkody early in the innings as Lasanthi Madushani and Hasini Perera put on a 58 run partnership for the 2nd wicket. However, apart from Madushani and Perera only one other player got into double figures as the Air Force bowlers slowed up the run-flow by picking up wickets at regular intervals. The innings was brought to a tame end as Navy A finished with 108 in their 20 overs for the loss of 9 wickets.

Oshadi Ranasinghe was the pick of the bowlers for Air Force claiming 3/15 while skipper Chamari Atapattu and Chamari Polgampola chipped in with 2 wickets a piece.

Chasing what could be described as a tricky target, the Air Force openers Atapattu and Yasoda Mendis did the trick for them yet again, putting on 53 runs in the 1st 10 overs. Atapattu went on to make a stroke filled 77 off just 59 deliveries, smashing 9 fours and 2 sixes. Inoka Ranaweera picked up two quick wickets but could not stop the Air Force from marching to victory.

Navy SC (A) 108/9 (20) Hasini Perera 38, Lasanthi Madushani 31, Oshadi Ranasinghe 3/15, Chamari Polgampola 2/18

Air Force SC (A) 111/3 (18.3) Chamari Atapattu 77, Yasoda Mendis 20, Inoka Ranaweera 2/19

Result – Air Force SC (A) won by 7 wickets

2nd Semi-final – Army SC (A) vs Colts Cricket Club at Colts Cricket Club Grounds

Colts CC had managed to spoil Army B’s party in the group stages however they were no match for Army A, who proved that their success so far this season has been no fluke.

Colts CC won the toss and surprisingly put the opposition in to bat. Their move paid dividends as left armer Iresha Shyamali got rid of Rebecca Vandort in just the 2nd over of the game. The Colts spinners took control of the game by making sure that they kept the run-rate down in the middle overs while picking up wickets regularly. A quick fire 22 from Damayanthi Silva helped Army SC to 117 in their allotted overs.

Poojani Liyanage was in the wickets once again picking up 2 to add to her growing tally; she surprisingly bowled just the two overs.

After a reasonably good bowling performance, the Colts’ batting let them down as apart from opener Deepika Rasangika and No. 7 Amasha Anjali none of the others even made it to double figures; they finished with 85 for the loss of 7 wickets in their allotted overs.

Army SC (A) 117/8 (20) Damayanthi Silva 22, Iresha Damayanthi 22, Poojani Liyanage 2/12

Colts CC 85/7 (20) Deepika Rasangika 32, Niluka Karunaratne 2/14, Damayanthi Silva 2/16

Result – Army SC (A) won by 32 runs