Major upset as Soldiers floor SSC by 5 wickets
Army created a major upset when they beat the much fancied SSC by five wickets while an unbeaten 95 in just 55 balls that included nine boundaries and five sixes by T.M. Dilshan helped Tamil Union record a three wicket win over NCC in the first semi-finas of the AIA Premier T20 cricket tournament played at R. Premadasa Stadium yesterday.
Army will now take on Tamil Union in the final of the competition which will be played from 10.00am at the R. Premadasa Stadium today.
Dilshan came to the rescue of Tamil Union in pursuit of 179 runs when they were struggling on 33 for 4 in the fifth over.
He was associated in two fruitful partnerships first of 73 runs for the fifth wicket with Jeevan Mendis and the other of 58 runs for the seventh wicket with Ramith Rambukwella which helped Tamil Union to reach the target with seven balls to spare.
Earlier in the day NCC invited to take first lease of the wicket got off to a flying start with openers Niroshan Dickwella and Upul Tharanga putting on 65 runs.
Later Dinesh Chandimal hit a quick fire 63 in only 37 balls which had seven boundaries and two sixes and was associated in useful partnerships as NCC was well placed on 142 for 4.
But the late order batting faltered as they were unable to make any useful contributions before NCC ended their innings making a score of 178 for 9 which proved be in vain.
Later on yesterday, Army SC overcame fancied SSC by 5 wickets in the second semi final of AIA Premier T20 cricket tournament played in the evening session at R. Premadasa Stadium. SSC came into the game as hot favourites after having being the only unbeaten team in the round robin matches but failed when it mattered most for them.
Army SC in their run chase of 145 runs made smooth progress even though they lost two early wickets for 21 runs in the second over. Sulan Jayawardena and Manjula de Zoysa added 30 runs for the third wicket which was followed by a 58 runs stand for the fourth wicket between Manjula and Shalika Katunayake before they were separated with Army SC on 109 for 4 in the 16th over.
Shalika and Seekkuge Prasanna put on a quick fire 25 runs in ten balls which brought Army SC closer to victory. The fall of the fifth wicket saw them needing 15 runs from 19 balls which they achieved in just seven balls with 14 balls to spare.
Results:
Semi-final 1: Tamil Union beat NCC by 3 wickets
NCC 178 for 9 in 20 overs (Dinesh Chandimal 63, Upul Tharanga 33, Niroshan Dickwella 31, Jehan Mubarak 24: Suranga Lakmal 2 for 23, Ramith Rambukwella 2 for 25, Charith Jayampathi 2 for 32)
Tamil Union 182 for 7 in 18.5 overs (Ramith Rambukwella 36, Jeevan Mendis 32, T.M. Dilshan 95 n.o.: Isuru Udana 3 for 53)
Semi-final 2: Army SC beat SSC by 5 wickets
SSC 144 in 20 overs (Dhanushka Gunatilleke 25, Thisara Perera 22, Minod Bhanuka 20, Sachithra Senanayake 15: Ajantha Mendis 2 for 24)
Army SC 143 for 5 in 17.4 overs (Shalika Karunanayake 43, Manjula de Zoysa 32, Sulan Jayawardena 19, Seekkuge Prasanna 19 n.o.: Dilhara Fernando 2 for 32)