Manoj, Janaka tons steer John Keells to massive win
MAS Active bowler Dilruwan Perera in action - Pic by M.D. Nissanka
Manoj Sarathchandra and Janaka Gunaratne cracked tons to steer John Keells to a convincing 155 runs win over HNB in the quarter-final encounter of the Mercantile Division ‘A’ limited over tournament played at De Zoysa Stadium Moratuwa yesterday. Manoj hit a 121 ball knock of 133 inclusive of 14 boundaries and three sixes while Janaka slammed a quick fire 89 ball 123 which included nine boundaries and eight sixes as the pair put on a 165 runs stand for the fifth wicket for John Keells taking first lease of the wicket post a massive score of 358 for 9.
HNB in reply was never going to be near the run chase of 359 runs and despite a knock of 67 coming from Sachin Jayawardena they were able to muster a score of only 203 runs. Dhanushka Gunatilleke knock of 96 in 72 balls with ten boundaries and half a dozen sixes paved the way for league champions MAS Unichela to record an easy seven wicket win over MAS Active in the quarter-final match played at P. Sara Stadium. MAS Active batting first was restricted to a score of 201 and MAS Unichela in their run chase guided by Gunatilleke raced to the target in just 30.3overs.
DIMO booked their berth to the semi-final with a comfortable six wicket win over Sampath Bank in the match played at the FTZ ground in Katunayake. DIMO after bowling out Sampath Bank for a low score of 149 helped by a knock of 68 by Nipun Karunanayake raced to the target in just 17.2 overs. An allround performance by Chathuranga de Silva enabled Commercial Credit to record a close 35 runs win over Textured Jersey in the match played at NCC ground. Chathuranga’s half ton saw Commercial Credit batting first make a score of 229 and Chathuranga’s five wicket haul helped them restrict Textured Jersey to a score of 194.
Quarter-final Results:
At Moratuwa: John Keells beat HNB by 155 runs
John Keells 358 for 9 in 50 (Manoj Sarathchandra 133, Janaka Gunaratne 123, Bhanuka Rajapaksa 37, Maduka Liyanapathiranage 25: Madawa Warnapura 2 for 55, Sachin Jayawardena 2 for 52, Sajeewa Weerakoon 2 for 69, Chandula Weeraratne 2 for 79)
HNB 203 in 42.5 overs (Sachin Jayawardena 67, Hashan Goonetilleke 28, Sajeewa Weerakoon 27, Madawa Warnapura 27: Madushan Ravichandrakumar 3 for 21, Vikum Bandara 3 for 34, Shanuka Dulaj 2 for 25)
At P. Sara Stadium: MAS Unichela beat MAS Active by 7 wickets
MAS Active 201 for 9 in 50 overs (Dilshan Munaweera 55, Jehan Mubarak 44, T.M. Sampath 26, Sachithra Serasinghe 20: Lahiru Jayaratne 3 for 37, Farveez Maharoof 3 for 47)
MAS Unichela 204 for 3 in 30.3 overs (Dhanushka Gunatilleke 96, Mahela Udawatte 37, Thilaksha Sumanasiri 28 n.o., T.M. Dilshan 20 n.o.)
At FTZ Katunayake: DIMO beat Sampath Bank by 6 wickets
Sampath Bank 149 in 32.4 overs (Kaushal Silva 34, Dasun Shanaka 32: Pulina Tharanga 3 for 35, Nisala Tharaka 2 for 47)
DIMO 152 for 4 in 17.2 overs (Nipun Karunanayake 68, Lasith Abeyratne 44: Kasun Rajitha 3 for 40)
At NCC: Commercial Credit beat Textured Jersey by 35 runs
Commercial Credit 229 in 46.5 overs (Chathuranga de Silva 66, Suraj Randiv 28, Imesh Udayanga 23, Upul Tharanga 20: Milinda Siriwardena 3 for 51, Jeffrey Vandersay 3 for 54) extured Jersey 194 in 36.4 overs (Milinda Siriwardena 79, Dilan Jayalath 46: Chathuranga de Silva 5 for 26)