Sri Lanka discard Farveez Maharoof and leg spinning all-rounder Seekuge Prasanna hammered 56 runs off the final 28 balls to help Southern Express book their spot in the SLC Super Fours Tournament final beating Western Troopers by 3 wickets in the play-off match played at SSC grounds on Tuesday.
Southern Express skipper Lasith Malinga won the toss of coin on a gloomy and overcast day which prompted him to bowl first. Western Troopers top order capitalized on some loose bowling from the Southern bowlers early on as they were coasting on a healthy run-rate over 8 runs per over in the first 15 overs with one drop batsman Bhanuka Rajapakshe portraying his usual style of attacking batting with a well-struck 41 runs in 24 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes while Dilshan Munaweera (25), Kithruwan Vithanage (26), Manjula De Zoysa (24) propelled the score board with quick twenties. Troopers were in a strong position at 138/4 with nearly 20 balls remaining but left arm orthodox spin bowler Sachith Pathirana triggered a major collapse as Western Troopers ended on a disappointing 153 for 9 wickets in their allotted 20 overs. Sachith Pathirana captured 4 wickets conceding 17 runs while Danushka Gunathilake bagged 2 wickets.
Chasing 154 runs to victory, Southern Express lost both their openers Niroshan Dickwella and Yashoda Lanka with only 20 runs on the board. Experienced Jehan Mubarak steadied the ship with a timely 25 runs while Angelo Perera contributed with 14 runs but wickets at regular intervals halted any momentum for the Southern Express batsmen as Western Troopers spinners tightened the screws on run scoring. Southern Express batters failed to take on the left arm spin of Chathuranga De Silva who ripped through the lower middle order to restrict Southern Express for 102 with 7 wickets down when Farveez Maharoof was joined by Seekuge Prasanna.
Maharoof and Prasanna had to take counter-attacking measures against the likes of Sachithra Senanayake and Chathuranga De Silva as the pair capitalized on their true batting style of aggressive approach to take their team over the line with two balls remaining. Maharoof won the man of the match award for his brilliant 27-balls 42 which comprised 2 fours and 3 sixes including the match winning six. Seekuge Prasanna dealt 4 massive sixes in his knock of 36 runs which came in just 17 balls. Maharoof and Prasanna added 56 runs in 28 balls in a thunderous 200.00 strike rate in their unbroken 8th wicket partnership which carried Southern Express into the grand final which will be played against unbeaten Udarata Rulers on 2nd of July at SSC grounds to determine Sri Lanka’s representative for the 6th Champions League T20 tournament which will be held in India starting in September, 2014.
Brief Scores:
Western Troopers – 153/9 in 20 overs : Bhanuka Rajapakshe 41, Dilshan Munaweera 25, Kithruwan Vithanage 26, Manjula De Zoysa 24, Sachith Pathirana 4/17, Dhanushka Gunathilake 2/19.
Southern Express – 158/7 in 19.4 overs : Jehan Mubarak 25*, Farveez Maharoof 42*, Seekuge Prasanna 36*, Chathuranga De Silva 3/24.
