The final group stage matches of the Women’s Division I T20 tournament were held at the Surrey Village Grounds and Rifle Green earlier today. Colts Cricket Club, Navy SC A, Air Force SC A and Army SC A registered comfortable wins in the 4 encounters held today to secure their spots in the final 4.
Army A, who topped Group A, will face Colts CC while table toppers from Group B Air Force A will face off with Navy A in their respective semi-final clashes to be held at the MCA grounds on the 13th of July.
Group A
Army SC A vs Matara SC
Army won the toss at the Surrey Village Grounds and had no hesitation in batting first. Although they lost a couple of early wickets, a half century from Damayanthi Silva helped them to highest total of tournament, 154/7 in their 20 overs.
Chasing a stiff target, the Matara SC girls never seemed like they would challenge their opponents and eventually finished on 57/6.
Army SC A – 154/7 (20) Damayanthi Silva 53, Imalka Mendis 36, Shayani Dilakshika 2/33
Matara SC – 57/6 (20) Apsara Baddage 21, Sherina Ravikumar 2/7, Lakmali Mathananda 1/4
Result – Army SC A won by 97 runs
Navy SC A vs Air Force SC B
It was virtually a quarterfinal for the two teams as they came into the game with a win apiece. Batting 1st the Navy ladies got into their groove early in the game as they made 147 in their 20 overs, losing just the two wickets. Eshani Lokusooriya made a blistering 42 off 25 deliveries that included 2 4’s and 3 6’s while Prasadini Weerakkody anchored the innings with a 53 ball 63.
Chasing the steep target, the home side never quite got going and ended with 89 off their allotted overs, Mihiri Madushani the top scorer with 34.
Navy SC A – 147/2 Prasadini Weerakkody 63, Eshani Lokusooriya 42, Harshani Maduwanthi 1/18
Air Force SC B – 89/7 Mihiri Madushani 34, Dharshani Dharmasiri 27, Inoka Ranaweera 3/16
Result – Navy A won by 58 runs
Group B
Colts CC vs Army SC B
Colts CC won the toss and elected to bat 1st at the Surrey Village Grounds. They lost an early wicket but a splendid 89 run partnership between Shamin Shaila and 18 year old Harshitha Samarawickrama helped them to a very competitive 132 in their 20 overs.
Army B were always in with a chance but a brilliant 6 wicket haul by Poojani Liyanage cut short their hopes of not only winning the game but also of reaching the semi-final stage. Liyanage’s spell meant that it ultimately turned out to be a comfortable win for the Colts’ ladies as they broke the forces’ monopoly of the semi-final spots.
Colts CC – 132/4 Shamin Shaila 52, Harshitha Samarawickrama 42, R. Peshala 1/12
Army SC B – 98/9 Niluka Kushanthi 30, Ayesha Sandamali 22, Poojani Liyanage 6/19
Result – Colts CC won by 34 runs
Air Force SC A vs Navy SC B
Air Force came into the game as favourites and they did not disappoint, steamrolling over the hapless Navy B team in their last group stage encounter, which was held at the Rifle Green Grounds.
Batting first the visitors could only manage 47 as they were bowled out in 15.5 overs as the Air Force bowlers ran riot. National openers Chamari Atapattu and Yasoda Mendis chased down the target in just 7.3 overs to bring the game to an early end.
Navy SC B – 47 (15.4) Shanika Lindagedara 15, Oshadi Ranasinghe 3/4, Inoshi Fernando 2/0
Air Force SC A – 48/0 (7.3) Yasoda Mendis 23, Chamari Atapattu 19
Result – Air Force SC A won by 10 wickets
