MCA ‘E’ Division semi-final line-up
Citizens Development Business, Mercantile Investments Ltd., Lankem Ceylon and UB Finance qualified to battle in the semi-finals finals in the 14th David Pieris Group of Companies sponsored ‘DPGC’ Challenge Trophy, MCA ‘E’ division 30-Over League Tournament 2016, scoring comfortable victories last weekend. Half Centuries by Yohan Liyanage (53 in 51 balls, inclusive of three sixes and three fours) and Chenuka Wickramasinghe (56 not out in 30 deliveries, inclusive of four sixes and an equal number of fours) and an inspiring spell of bowling by Vishvajith Ratnayake (6-1-27-2) guided Citizens Development Business to a convincing 90 runs win over Toll Global Forwarding.
An unfinished 98 run partnership for the sixth wicket between Chanaka Hemachandra (35 not out) and Dinesh Seneviratne (57 not out in 39
Dinesh Seneviratne top scored with 57no for MIL. Pix by Ranjith Perera
balls, inclusive of five hits to the ropes and three over) and a stingy spell by Dilshan Rusiru ( 4.1-1-8-4) gave Mercantile Investments a fine 48 runs win over John Keells ‘C’. Lankem Ceylon put up a grand fielding performance, helping their bowlers, Dhanushka Atigala (5-0-16-2), Mohamed Aslam (6-1-14-2) and Shehan Achintha (6-0-23-2) to restrict Unilever to a paltry 90 runs in 28.2 overs, thus going home early with a cake walk seven wickets win with 19 overs to spare.
A quick fire 95 runs stand in 78 balls for the third wicket between Pathum Madusanka (73 in 63 balls, inclusive of a six and 10 fours) and Nipuna Gamage (69 in 52 balls, inclusive of two sixes and a half a dozen fours) while Milinda Gunaratne snapped up the 1st three wickets (6-1-18-3) to spearhead UB Finance to a comfortable 85 runs over Astron Sports club. The semi-finals will take place this weekend at the MCA Grounds, Citizens Development Business Vs. Mercantile Investments in the morning and Lankem Ceylon Vs. UB Finance in the afternoon.
Quarter Finals:
1st QF at MCA: Citizens Development Business beat Toll Global Forwarding by 90 runs
CDB 224 for 7 (28) (C. Dikkumbura 32, Y. Liyanage 53, S. Abilmeegama 32, C.Wickramasinghe 56 not out, S. Perera 27, J. Dillon 2/29, A. Dulshan 4/42)
Toll Global 134 (21.5) (P. de Silva 20, M. Askar 51, J. Dillon 20, V. Ratnayake 2/27, S. Perera 3/33, U. Premakumara 3/17)
2nd QF at MCA: Mercantile Investments Ltd., beat J. Keels ‘C’ by 48 runs
MIL 185 for 5 (29) (P. Buddhika 28, D.Gunasekera 20, C. Hemachandra 35 not out, D. Seneviratne 57 not out, A. Withanachchi 2/25)
J. Keells ‘C’ 140 (25.1) (G. Fernando 27, P.K. Abeygunasekera 35, D. Costa 20, D. Rusiru 4/8, D. Seneviratne 2/22)
3rd QF at Kotahena: Lankem Ceylon beat Unilever by 7 wickets
Unilever 90 (28.2) (D. Wickramasinghe 20, D. Atigala 2/16, M. Aslam 2/14, S. Achintha 2/23)
Lankem 91 for 3 (11) (R. Weerasinghe 51, L. Weerasekera 22)
4th QF at Kotahena: U.B. Finance beat Astron Sports Club by 85 runs
UBF 225 for 6 (30) (P. Madusanka 73, N. Gamage 69, S. Seneviratne 21, M. Jayawickrama 20, N. Fernando 2/39, T. Tishanth 2/37)
Astron 140 (28.3) (M. Francis 35, T.Tishanth 25, M. Gunaratne 3/18, A. Perera 2/23, G. Yatawara 2/23)