The penultimate day in the group stages of the AIA Premier T20 Tournament witnessed few nail-biting matches on Wednesday in Colombo.
Tamil Union, Bloomfield, SSC, SL Army, Colts & Saracens registered vital victories yet only last year’s runners-up, SSC have guaranteed themselves a place in the semi-final. The reigning champions, Badureliya SC bowed out of the tournament as they have only won two games out of their six games.
Tamil Union vs Chilaw Marians
Young all-rounder Pulina Tharanga smashed a mind-blowing 49 off 30 balls as he guided Tamil Union to a 2-wicket victory in a high-scoring thriller against Chilaw Marians at NCC grounds.
The men from Chilaw blasted 209 for 8 wickets from their allotted 20 overs. Saliya Saman smashed 6 sixes and 4 fours during his 49-ball 78 while young Kasun Vidura consumed only 26 deliveries for his 51. Tamil Union skipper Suranga Lakmal claimed a five-wicket haul.
Chasing 210 runs to win, Dhananjaya De Silva and TM Dilshan started off briskly as they were 98 for 2 in just 7 overs but slid dramatically to 148 for 7 in the 14th over but Pulina Tharanga guided them to victory.
Chilaw Marians – 209/8 in 20 overs: Saliya Saman 78, Kasun Vidura 51, Ashen Silva 32, Suranga Lakmal 5/34, Shaminda Eranga 2/29.
Tamil Union – 211/8 in 19.4 overs: TM Dilshan 41, Dhananjaya De Silva 39, Pulina Tharanga 49*, Shaminda Eranga 20, Charith Rajapaksha 3/34, Maduka Liyanapathiranage 2/56, Dinuka Hettiarachchi 2/23.
SSC vs NCC
SSC romped home to a 3-wicket win over arch-rivals, NCC in a classic T20 encounter at P. Sara Oval grounds.
National stars, Upul Tharanga, Angelo Perera and Dinesh Chandimal helped NCC post a formidable 158 on the board but SSC chased down the target in the penultimate ball of the match. Young batting stars, Kavindu Kulasekara, Minod Bhanuka and Dasun Shanaka chipped in with the bat for the winners.
NCC – 158/7 in 20 overs: Niroshan Dickwella 24, Upul Tharanga 40, Dinesh Chandimal 23, Angelo Perera 28, Dilhara Fernando 4/38.
SSC – 159/7 in 19.5 overs: Danushka Gunathilaka 23, Dasun Shanaka 29, Minod Bhanuka 31, Kavindu Kulasekara 33, Dushmantha Chameera 2/32, Tharindu Kaushal 3/23.
Bloomfield vs Galle
Bloomfield recorded a thrilling 3-wicket win over Galle CC to stay alive in the competition at Colts grounds.
Chamara Silva’s 61 helped Galle post a par score of 147 for 5 but the in-form Primosh Perera stroked a well-calculated half-century to guide the chase for the winners.
Galle – 147/5 in 20 overs: Chamara Silva 61, Rumesh Buddhika 25, Suraj Randiv 27, Vishwa Fernando 2/27, Chathura Randunu 2/23.
Bloomfield – 151/7 in 19.2 overs: Primosh Perera52, Dilshan Munaweera 32, Malith Mahela 3/19, Sajeewa Weerakoon 2/40.
Colts vs Badureliya
Colts CC registered a 16-run win over the defending champions, Badureliya CC at NCC grounds.
Colts – 163/9 in 20 overs: Shehan Fernando 29, Priyamal Perera 43, Sanka Ramesh 28, Kasun Rajitha 2/23, Shanaka Shaninda 3/27.
Badureliya – 147/8 in 20 overs: Hasantha Fernando 52*, Yashan Samarasinghe 21, Shehan Jayasuriya 2/20, Ali Khan 2/14.
Moors vs Saracens
Geeth Kumara and Suresh Niroshan slammed half-tons as Saracens romped home to a convincing 69-run win over Moors at Colts grounds.
Saracens – 180/6 in 20 overs: Suresh Niroshan 56, Geeth Kumara 76, Malinda Pushpakumara 2/38, Sachithra Serasinghe 2/16.
Moors – 111 all out in 16.2 overs: Yashoda Lanka 22, Alankara Asanka 2/22, Sachithra Perera 3/11, Mohommad Aslam 2/13.
SL Army vs SL Ports Authority
Seekkuge Prasanna slammed 33 off 8 balls with 3 sixes and 3 fours as Sri Lanka Army Sports Club defeated Sri Lanka Ports Authority Cricket Club by 6 wickets at P. Sara Oval grounds.
SL Ports – 150/8 in 20 overs: Gayan Maneeshan 35*, Harsha Rajapaksha 27, Ajantha Mendis 2/26, Navantha Rathnayake 2/31.
SL Army – 153/4 in 16.2 overs: Manjula de Zoysa 42, Asela Gunarathne 40, Seekkuge Prasanna 33*, Chaminda Bandara 2/18.
