Ananda College, Colombo and Richmond College, Galle registered easy wins over their opponents in the semifinals, of the Murali Harmony Cup, completed earlier today.
1st semifinal:
- DS Senanayake College 146/7 (20/20 ov)
- Ananda College 149/4 (16.3/20 ov)
- Ananda College won by 6 wickets (with 21 balls remaining)
Ananda faced DS Senanayake College in the 1st semifinal of the day. The DS boys got off to an excellent start, having won the toss, with their openers Captain TN Vidyasekara and NS Ratnayake putting on 89 runs in the 1st 10 overs of the game. However no other player of the team was able to get on to double figures and they were bundled out for 146 in their allotted 20 overs. Vidyasekara top scored with 60 off just 40 deliveries. Left armer D. Jayalath was the chief destroyer for the Anandians, picking up 5 wickets for 12 runs. Chasing a stiff target the Anandians were in a spot of bother at 46/4, however N. Haggala and K. Anjuna dragged them out of trouble and into the finals with a fine 103 run partnership.
2nd semifinal:
- St Johns College Jaffna 120/9 (20/20 ov)
- Richmond College 123/3 (18.3/20 ov)
- Richmond College won by 7 wickets (with 9 balls remaining)
In the 2nd semifinal of the day, Richmond College came up against St. John’s College Jaffna. The home team got off to a decent start and were at one stage, 100/4 in the 15th over. However some disciplined bowling by Richmond College saw them collapse dramatically to finish at 120/9 in their 20 overs. A. Theekshana bagged a valuable 5 wicket haul and ensured that none of the latter order batters were able to get going. D Lakshan set the tone for Richmond the innings with 30 off 15 deliveries. Richmond College knocked off the runs quite comfortably as all of their batsman seemed to find their touch in the middle.
Murali Harmony Cup Women’s Tournament – Nittambuwa Ladies to take on Combined Girls’ Schools’ (COMGS) team in Final.
Similar to the Men’s draw, the Women’s semifinals too were one sided affairs as the two dominant teams of the tournament booked their places in the finals.
1st Semifinal:
- Nittabuwa Ladies 141/8 (15/15 ov)
- FOG-Seenigama Ladies 68 (10.3/15 ov)
- Nittabuwa Ladies won by 73 runs
Nittambuwa Ladies won the toss and chose to take 1st lease of the wicket in the 1st semifinal. They got off to a relatively stable start and small, yet valuable contributions from most of the batters saw them reach 141 for the loss of 8 wickets in the allotted 15 overs. The bowling of the Seenigama team left much to be desired as 25 extras were given away; including 12 wides. Coming in to bat they had their work cut out, but they lost wickets at regular intervals and never really looked like getting close to the opposition’s score. Ultimately they were bowled out in just 10.3 overs, with S Madushika picking up 4 wickets for 14 runs.
2nd Semifinal
- Shakthi Ladies 105/6 (15/15 ov)
- Combined Girls Schools 107/2 (13.2/15 ov)
- Combined Girls Schools won by 8 wickets (with 10 balls remaining)
Shakthi Ladies skipper N Dilrukshi won the toss and elected to bat in the 2nd semifinal. They did not get off to a good start however, losing 3 wickets for just 37 runs at the halfway point of the innings. HMS Menaka could not find any decent support at the other end as she stroked her way to a valuable 39 off 32 deliveries. SN Jayawardene picked up 3 crucial wickets for the COMGS team, helping to restrict Shakthi Ladies to a score of 105/6 in their 15 overs. The COMGS Captain H Madavi then ensured that there were no slip ups for the team by batting through the innings and making a fine half century in the process.
The finals of both the men’s and women’s competitions are scheduled to take place on Sunday, the 11th of October from 1.30 pm onwards.
