Maliban, Sri Lanka Telecom in final
Nethminda Perera in action Pic by Priyantha Wickremarachchi
Maliban Biscuits (Maliban) and Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) will meet in the final of the 7th Stafford Motor Co. (Pvt) Ltd., sponsored ‘Honda’ Trophy, MCA ‘G’ Division 25-Over League Tournament 2017, on Saturday, August 12 at the MCA Grounds, from 10 am onwards.
In the semifinals played last weekend at the MCA grounds, Maliban had a comfortable 7-wickets win over Avery Dennison, while SLT beat HNB ‘B’ by 31 runs.
In the first semifinal, Maliban spin twins, Chamara Ratnayake (4-1-11-4) and Anjula Perera (5-0-28-3) skittled out Avery Dennison for a paltry 84 runs in 22 overs. Maliban cruise to their target in 15.1 overs, losing only 3 wickets.
In the second semifinal, HNB paceman Mohamed Ikram put SLT in a precarious position, bagging the first 3 wickets for no runs, while 2 more wickets saw SLT looking down the barrel at 17 for 5. Kalpa Bandaranayake made a valiant 71 runs in 40 balls, with 4 sixes and 8 fours in a fighting 85-runs 6th wicket partnership in 59 balls with Suranga Wijeratne, who held the other end scoring 31 runs, as SLT made a face saving 159 for 9 in 25 overs.
HNB, despite some good batting by D. Panditharatne (42) and G. Hondamunige (39) fell by the post, to be all out for 128 runs, with a ball to spare. Bowlers responsible for putting the Bankers on the wrong side of the ledger were Jagath Siriwardena (3/36) , Kalpa Badaranayake (2/28) and Malinda Perera (2/15).
Scores
Top half: Maliban beat Averi Dennison by 7 wickets
Avery Dennison- 84 all out (22 overs) (C. Wijeratne 30; C. Ratnayake 4/11, A. Perera 3/28)
Maliban- 85 for 3 (15.1 overs) (A. Perera 43, N. Perera 29 not out)
Bottom half: SLT beat HNB ‘B’ by 31 runs
SLT – 159 for 9 (25 overs) (Kalpa Bandaranayake 71, S. Wijeratne 31, D. Yukthi 29 not out; Mohamed Ikram 3/23, D. Panditharatne 2/25, Anush Perera 2/27)
HNB ‘B’- 128 all out (24.5 overs) (D. Panditharatne 42, G. Hondamunige 39; J. Siriwardena 3/36, Kalpa Bandaranayake 2/28, M. Perera 2/15)