Sinhalese Sports Club and Badureliya Sports Club will clash in the SLC Twenty20 finals after they won their respective semi-final encounters on Thursday at SSC grounds.
Badureliya vs NCC
High-riding Badureliya SC qualified to the finals beating the star-studded NCC outfit by 5 wickets in the 1st semi-final played at SSC grounds.
Badureliya skipper Milinda Siriwardene won the toss and elected to field and his counterpart Upul Tharanga was dismissed for a golden duck. NCC struggled to score runs freely though left-handed Sandun Weerakkody stroked a 33-ball 46 which helped them post 135 for 9 at the end of 20 overs. Saranga Rajaguru notched up 29 runs in no time. Left-arm fast bowler Mohammed Dilshan managed to pick up 3 wickets for 23 while Kasun Rajitha and Andy Solomons took 2 wickets each.
Chasing 136 runs to win, Badureliya innings was anchored by Milinda Siriwardene’s unbeaten knock of 31 in 23 balls. Opener Amal Athulathmudali made 28 while Gihan Rupasinghe scored 25 runs as Badureliya got over the line in the 20th over with only 4 balls to spare. Part-time spinner Jehan Mubarak took 3 scalps.
NCC – 135/9 in 20 overs: Sandun Weerakkody 46, Saranga Rajaguru 29, Mohomed Dilshad 3/23, Andy Solomons 2/23, Kasun Rajitha 2/26.
Badureliya – 139/5 in 19.2 overs: Milinda Siriwardena 31*, Amal Athulathmudali 28, Gihan Rupasinghe 25, Jehan Mubarak 3/24.
SSC vs Colts
Two 20-year old youngsters, Binura Fernando and Minod Bhanuka steered SSC into the finals beating Colts CC by 8 wickets in the 2nd semi-final played at SSC grounds.
After being sent into bat, Colts lost their top 4 batsmen for just 9 runs as left-arm seamer Binura Fernando caused early problems. Roshen Silva and Bhanuka Rajapakse made 36 and 34 respectively while they were involved in a 53-run stand for the 5th wicket. Colts innings was finally ended in the last over for just 118 runs on the board. Binura picked up 4 wickets for 26 runs while right-arm speedster Kasun Madusanka managed 3 scalps for 13 runs.
Chasing 119 runs to win, Nuwan Kulasekara trapped in-form Danushka Gunathilake in the very first over. The 20-year old left-hander Minod Bhanuka batting at number 3 produced a superb batting performance as he clobbered 70 runs in 48 balls with 6 sixes and 6 fours. Experienced Chamara Kapugedara made a quick-fire 13-ball 28 as SSC cruised to victory comfortably in the 14th over.
Colts – 118 all out in 19.1 overs: Roshen Silva 36, Bhanuka Rajapaksa 34, Binura Fernando 4/26, Kasun Madushnaka 3/13, Jeffry Vandersay 2/14.
SSC – 119/2 in 13.3 overs: Minod Bhanuka 70*, Chamara Kapugedera 28*.
Sinhalese Sports Club will start the finals as favourites to win but Badureliya Sports Club can cause an upset and bag their first major domestic title in the final match scheduled to play on 10th April at SSC grounds starting at 10am.
