Resilient Jason and Shehan build SSC ‘A’ victory
View(s):Man-of-the-Match Jason de Silva and Shehan Perera, the tailenders, brought glory to SSC ‘A’ with their brilliant ninth-wicket partnership, as they went on to clinch the MCA 11th Anniversary, 8th Inter-Academy Under-15, 30-over cricket tournament, beating MCA ‘Blues’ at the Thurstan College ground, last Sunday.
Jason and Shehan put on an unbroken stand of 48 runs for the ninth wicket after SSC ‘A’ slid to 116 for the loss of eight wickets, to win the final with two deliveries to spare. Jason made an unbeaten 28 off 22 deliveries inclusive of two fours and two sixes while Shehan gave him his fullest support with a run-a-ball 15, which included a boundary.
MCA ‘Blue’ captain Eranga Jayasinghe receives the runners-up trophy from the President of MCA, Ashley Ratnayake.
SSC ‘A’ won the toss and elected to field as MCA ‘Blues’ posted 162 runs for the loss of eight wickets in their allotted number of 30 overs. SSC ‘A’, chasing a victory target of 163 runs in 30 overs, with a required run rate of 5.43.
SSC ‘A’ were given a solid start of 70 runs in 76 balls by openers, Helitha Bambaranda who made 49 runs in 60 balls with a six and eight fours and Jehan Daniel who made 30 runs in 34 balls, inclusive of six fours. MCA ‘Blue’ skipper, Eranga Jayasinghe, who introduced himself into the attack in the 13th over, got rid of Daniel in the very first over and went on to create havoc by getting rid of top order batsmen, Kavinda Munasinghe, Pathum Silva, and skipper Dineth Madurawela, before they could even reach double figures. This forced SSC ‘A’ to take defensive measures with their score reading 92 for the loss of five wickets in the 20th over.
Spinner Udara de Silva, who bowled an intelligent spell of six overs, conceded 20 runs but claimed two scalps. One of his victims was the prized wicket of Helitha Bambaranda, who was trapped in front, as SSC ‘A’ further slid to 116 for the loss of eight wickets in 25 overs.
The turning point of the game was the 26th over, bowled by Mahela Harischandra, who got belted for 16 runs and the 27th over bowled by Harshan Yogendra, who got hit for 14 runs. A tally of 30 runs in 12 balls put back SSC ‘A’ on track. SSC ‘A’ had to get eight runs in the final over which was bowled by Ishane Perera. The hero of the day, Jason de Silva, put all doubts beyond the issue, when he sealed the victory with a huge six in the second ball he faced.
SSC ‘A’ skipper Dineth Madurawala receives the trophy from the chief guest, former President of Mercantile Cricket Association, Chris Obeysekere, who inaugurated the MCA Cricket Academy in 2002.
MCA ‘Blue’ faced a great disadvantage while fielding by losing their wicket keeper, Kasun Abeyratne, who suffered a nasty blow to his face, while collecting a throw early in the innings. He was rushed to hospital. Earlier on, MCA ‘Blue’ sent into bat posted a challenging 162 for 8 wickets in 30 overs, riding mainly on an opening stand of 60 runs between Kasun Abeyratne and Rahul Wijeratne. Kasun and Rahul made identical scores of 25 runs apiece before middle-order batsman Avindu Fernando hit a solid knock of 40 runs in 43 balls which included six fours.
Besides Jason, who was adjudged the Man-of-the-Match, based on the overall performances in the group stage, Oshan Dinelka of Nugegoda CA won the Best Bowler’s award as Tharusha Wijebahu of CCC ‘A’ was named as the Player-of-the-Tournament. Vishwa Sandaruwan of Kurunegala RSA was adjudged the Best Captain while SSC ‘B’ was named the Most Disciplined Team of the tournament. – NA
MCA ‘Blue’ 162 for 8 wickets in 30 overs (Kasun Abeyratne 25, Rahul Wijeratne 25, Avindu Fernando 40, Ishane Perera 16n.o, Harshan Yogendra 16, Niduka Welikala 4/29, Yasindu Yulantha 2/20)
SSC ‘A’ 163 for 8 wickets in 29.4 overs (Helitha Bambaranda 49, Jehan Daniel 30, Jason de Silva 28n.o, Shehan Perera 15n.o, Eranga Jayasinghe 4/28, Harshan Yogendra 2/17, Udara de Silva 2/20)
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