The giant-killing Badureliya Sports Club, Sinhalese Sports Club, Colts Cricket Club and Nondescript Cricket Club booked their places in the SLC Twenty20 Tournament 2015 after the grueling group stage came to an end on April 8th.
The 14-team club competition spanned over a week and each team played 6 games in 2 separate groups. Badureliya topped group A with 9 points through 4 wins and one tied encounter. SSC ended on number 2 position with 7 points through their 3 wins but qualified through better run-rate.
Both Colts and NCC remained unbeaten in group B having eased through the group stage with 5 and 4 wins respectively. Incidentally Colts vs NCC group stage game ended without a result due to heavy rain. Unfortunately SL Army SC and Moors SC failed to register one single win under their belt in the whole competition though they played superb cricket in the Super Eight Stage of the Premier League Tournament.
The most notable performance of the group stage was the world-record breaking bowling spell by Chanaka Welegedara where he bowled his quota of 4 overs for just 2 runs taking 4 wickets while bowling 2 maidens. The left-arm seamer took 17 wickets in 6 games for his club, Tamil Union C & AC. ‘Wele’ bowled right throughout the competition with an impressive economy rate of 4.41 and co-incidentally bowled 24 overs in the 6 matches. In the most-wickets list, Bloomfield seamer Nuwan Pradeep and Badureliya opening bowler Kasun Rajitha occupies the 2nd and 3rd positions with 14 and 13 wickets respectively.
SSC batsman Danushka Gunathilake was in red-hot form during the group stages where he stroked 274 runs in 5 innings with a staggering 91.33 average and 172.32 strike rate. The left handed opener master-classed a 57-ball ton against CCC as well. The veteran middle-order batsman Chamara Silva of CCC was the other centurion in the competition and he scored 263 runs in 5 innings but could not help his team qualify for the semi-finals. SL Ports Authority opener Mahela Udawatte too passed the 250-run mark in the group stage when he made 251 runs in 6 innings.
Chamara notched up the highest score in the tournament when he made an unbeaten 110 against Badureliya SC but his performance was overshadowed by the latter’s excellent chase of 202 thanks to a blistering cameo of 29-ball 72 by number 9 batsman Lassana Perera. The most thrilling clash was played between Badureliya SC and Ragama CC when both teams ended on a score of 157. Two wicket-hauls were picked up by Colts spinner Shehan Jayasuriya and Bloomfield fast-bowler Nuwan Pradeep (Both against SL Air Force).
The semi-finals will be played on April 9th at SSC grounds and the first decider between Badureliya and NCC will be played in the Morning session while the second semi-final between SSC and Colts will be played in the Afternoon session.
Final Points Table of the Group Stage
Group A
|
Teams |
Mat |
Won |
Lost |
Tied |
N/R |
Pts |
Net RR |
|
Badureliya |
6 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
9 |
+0.625 |
|
SSC |
6 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
7 |
+0.641 |
|
CCC |
6 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
7 |
-0.480 |
|
Ragama |
6 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
7 |
+1.015 |
|
Tamil Union |
6 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
+0.250 |
|
Saracens |
6 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
6 |
-0.002 |
|
SL Army |
6 |
0 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
-1.815 |
Group B
|
Teams |
Mat |
Won |
Lost |
Tied |
N/R |
Pts |
Net RR |
|
Colts |
6 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
11 |
+2.964 |
|
NCC |
6 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
10 |
+2.246 |
|
SL Ports |
6 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
+0.474 |
|
Bloomfield |
6 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
-0.288 |
|
SL Air Force |
6 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
-1.394 |
|
Chilaw |
6 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
-1.956 |
|
Moors |
6 |
0 |
5 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
-1.210 |
