Sagara and Adeesha guide Vallibel Finance
View(s):Two fine batting performances by skipper Sagara Upuldeniya and Adeesha Nanayakkara guided Vallibel Finance (‘F’ Division winner) to a well earned five wicket win over nucleus Asian Asset Finance (‘G’ Division winner) in the finals of the 2nd MCA Tier ‘B’ T20 Super Tournament 2015, sponsored by Hayleys Fibre concluded at the Mercantile Cricket Association grounds last Sunday.
Asian Finance batsman Sashrika Pussegolla drives one to the covers - Pix by Ranjith Perera
Asia Asset Finance winning the toss put up a challenging 167 for the loss of five wickets in their allotted 20 overs. The highlight of the inning was the fighting 75-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Nimesh Fernando (70 in 57 deliveries including five hits over the ropes) and Nimesh Perera (44 in 23 balls inclusive of five sixes).
Chasing a victory target of 167 runs with an average of 8.45 runs per over, Vallibel skipper Sagara Upuldeniya combined with Adeesha Nanayakkara put up a match winning partnership of 65 runs for the 3rd wicket which enabled them to reach the target with 1.2 overs to spare. Upuldeniya scored an unbeaten 63 in 47 deliveries which included four sixes and an equal number of fours while Nanayakkara making a quick 53 in only facing 29 deliveries inclusive of five sixes and two boundaries.
With the departure of Adeesha Nanayakkara at 110, skipper Upuldeniya continued the battle with a valuable stand of 40 runs with Hashan Lakmal (15) for the 4th wicket took them to be the worthy winners. Match Referee Basil Perera had no hesitation on naming Sagara Upuldeniya of Vallibel Finance as the Man-of –the –Match.
HSBC bowler Nishika De Silva in action
Three other special awards were won by Malinda de Silva of Asian Asset Finance (Best Bowler) and Vallibel Finance’s Adeesha Nanayakkara (Best Batsman and Man-of-the Series).
Awards were given away by Pramodth Fernando, Asst. Manager Sales and Marketing, Thideema Perera, Manager of Sales and Marketing and General Manager, Production – all from Riley’s (Pvt) Ltd., along with MCA’s President Gamini Wickremasinghe and Tournament Secretary Sujeeva De Silva.
Chief Scores
AAF 167 for 5 (20) (Nimesh Fernando 70, Nimesh Perera 44, Dilshan Ratnayake 2/31)
Vallibel 168 for 5 (18.4) (S. Keshawa 22, Adeesha Nanayakkara 53, Sagara Upuldeniya 63 n.o., H. Lakmal 15)
Earlier Vallibel Finance made their way to the finals by defeating McLarens Group by eight wickets in the first semi-final while Asia Asset Finance scored a 32 run win over HSBC ‘A’ in the second semi-final.
Semi-finals:
1st SF: McLarens 136 for 8 (20) (S. Hettiarachchi 50, Randika Fernando 26, Baseer Bongso 28, Sanath Wickramasuriya 2/19, Dhanajaya Perera 2/7)
Vellibel Finance 138 for 2 (13) (Adeesha Nanayakkara 52 not out,Sagara Upuldeniya 46 not out)
2nd SF: Asia Asset Finance beat HSBC ‘A’ by 32 runs
Asia Asset Finance 145 for 9 (20) (Sashrika Pussegolla 58, Nimesh Perera 22, Malintha de Silva 21, Supun Subasinghe 2/17, Prageeth de Zoysa 2/35, Nishika de Silva 2/32)
HSBC ‘A’– 133 all out (18.5) (A Tillakarathne 26, Malintha de Silva 2/9, N. Niroshan 2/32, Sashrika Pussegolla 3/13, Nimesh Perera 3/12,)