The Semi Finals of the Prima U15 Provincial Tournament took place today. Here’s a brief look into the matches.
Western Province South-Outer VS Western Province North-Outer
Western Province South-Outer sealed their spot in the final after beating Western North-Outer by 67 runs at NCC grounds. Western South-Outer won the toss and elected to bat first. Their top order batsmen got starts but failed to carry onto make big scores. Nevertheless these valuable knocks helped them to reach 216 before getting bowled out inside 50 overs. Kamil Mishara top scored with 35 runs while Ranesh Duminda and Sheron Liyanage scored 30 and 29 respectively. In the bowling attack for Western North-Outer, Kaveesha Dulanjana bagged 4/44 while Theekshana Ridmal and Shenaz Sandeepa took 2 wickets each.
In reply, Western North-Outer was on track at first thanks to a fighting half century by Avishka Tharidu. His knock of 51 gave Western North-Outer a glimmer of hope but soon after his departure there came a collapse in the batting line up. Avishka Lakshan’s bowling performance played a key factor for Western South-Outer which helped them to restrict their opponents for just 149 runs. Avishka ended with figures of 4 for 11 as Western South-Outer sealed their spot in the final.
At NCC Ground – 50 Over Match (Toss: WPS Outer)
Western Province South Outer216 (49.5)Kamil Mishara 35, Ranesh Duminda 30, Sheron Liyanage 29, Rohan Sanjaya 29, Shenaz Sandeepa 2/38, Kaveesha Dulanjana 4/44, Theekshana Ridmal 2/31
vs
Western Province North Outer149 (44.4)Avishka Tharindu 51, Avishka Lakshan 4/11, Lahiru Madhushanka 2/41, Rohan Sanjaya 2/29
Western Province Central VS Southern Province
In the second semi final, Western Central registered a 43 run victory against Southern Province at CCC grounds. Western Province Central won the toss and they managed to post 216 all out in 48.1 overs. Leshan Amarasinghe top scored with a brilliant 71 and he was well supported by Pawan Rathnayke who scored 57 runs. The pair scored the bulk of the runs while the other batsmen fail to perform well. Sugeeth Nimnada ended with top figures of 3 for 37 for the Southerners.
In reply, Western Central did not allow Southern batsmen to get away with easy runs. The man in form Sandun Mendis was yet again amongst the runs for Southern Province but his valiant knock of 46 proved not enough for them to get over the line. Viranga Wickramage’s heroics with the ball made sure Southern didn’t even get close to the target. Viranga ended with figures of 4 for 27 as Southern crumbled for just 147 runs.
Western Province Central – 216 (48.1)
Leshan Amarasinghe 71, Pawan Rathnayake 57, Tithira Weerasinghe 24, Sugeeth Nimnada 3/37, Niduka Malsith 2/39
Southern Province – 173 (43.2)
Sandun Mendis 46, Kavindu Nadeeshan 22, Viranga Wickaramage 4/27, Sachika Chandeera 2/22, Thasika Nirmal 2/23, Amith Dabare 2/3
