The Lawyers became the champions of the 8th Professionals’ Cricket League (PCL), beating the previous champions, the Engineers, in the Final at BRC Grounds, Colombo on Sunday, 24th September.
The Lawyers and the former champions, the Engineers, were the only unbeaten sides from the group stage, winning all three games they played. The Lawyers took on the Marketers in the 1st Semi Final where they sealed a 5-wicket win to qualify for the Final, while the Engineers were through to the Final after registering a dominant win over the Doctors in the 2nd Semi Final.
>>Dates announced for final round of PCL 2023
The 3rd place play-off between the Marketers and the Doctors took place last morning as the Doctors won the 3rd place after a thrilling encounter.
In the final, the Engineers Skipper Viraj Premaratne decided to bowl first after winning the toss as the Lawyers got off to a poor start, losing three wickets inside the powerplay. At 22/3, Kasun Hettiarachchi and Akila Jayasundara joined forces for the rebuilding process, adding 67 runs in 43 balls for the fourth wicket.
Jayasundara was the power striker during that period, smashing 43 off 22 while hitting 3 fours and 3 sixes, and once he got out, the wickets began to fall once again. Hettiarachchi (32 off 37) and Yohan Jinasena (18* off 18) made some useful contributions as the Lawyers posted 143/8 in their 20 overs. Geeth Sankalpa was the pick of the bowlers, picking up 3/19 during his 4-over spell, while Chandula Premaratne bagged 2 wickets.
In response, the Engineers never really got going and failed to maintain the required rate as well. The middle order batters, Rumesh Madushanka (18 off 19) and Geeth Sankalpa (17 off 13), could not hang in there after getting good starts. Hirusha Balapitiya showed some fight with a 29-run knock, but he too spent as many as 30 balls.
In the end, they only managed to post 125/9, handing a 18-run win for the Lawyers to become the new champions of the Professionals’ Cricket League 2023. On the bowling front, Shanmugampillai Jetharshan was phenomenal, grabbing 4/9 runs in 3 overs, while Thusith Paliwatte also took a couple of wickets too.
Brief Scores:
3rd Place Play-off – The Marketers vs The Doctors (18-over game)
The Marketers 100/8 (18) Dhanushka Colombage 32, Lochana Bandara 19, Pujitha Uduwana 13*, Isuru Ahesh 2/6, Amila Udara 1/14, Dilan Paranamana 1/16
The Doctors 101/7 (17.5) Tharaka Wickramage 40, Dilan Paranamana 17, Rajive Nirmalasinham 15, Dhanushka Colombage 2/11, Pramod Fernando 1/10, Udara Peiris 1/21
Match Result – The Doctors won by 3 wickets
Final – The Lawyers vs The Engineers
The Lawyers 143/8 (20) Akila Jayasundara 43, Kasun Hettiarachchi 32, Yohan Jinasena 18*, Geeth Sankalpa 3/19, Chandula Premaratne 2/24, Rumesh Madushanka ⅓
The Engineers 125/9 (20) Hirusha Balapitiya 29, Rumesh Madushanka 18, Geeth Sankalpa 17, Shanmugampillai Jetharshan 4/9, Thusith Paliwatte 2/28, Sachithra Thennakoon 1/12
Match Result – The Lawyers won by 18 runs
, beating the previous champions, the Engineers, in the Final at BRC Grounds, Colombo on Sunday, 24th September.){kind=link}