Disciplined bowling helped Army SC stun favorites SSC, by 26 runs to be crowned SLC Division 1 U23 Twenty20 Cricket champions.
SSC, winning the toss elected to field on a cloudy afternoon at the R. Premadasa International cricket stadium.
Ashan Randika and skipper Leo Fransisco made a blistering start scoring 34 off 2.5 overs before Ashan Randika was dismissed for a quick fire 21 off 11 balls. Captain Leo Fransisco was the next to go following his opening partner to the dressing room in the 7th over as he was dismissed for 32 in 24 balls.
With the good start provided by the openers, Dilshan De Soyza stepped up from the crucial number three position as he anchored the innings, top scoring with 34 in the process to guide Army to a competitive total of 158 for the loss of 8 in 20 overs. Ramesh Mendis was the star with the ball for SSC picking 3 for 18 in his quota of 4 overs.
SSC in reply got off to the worst possible start being reduced to 12 for 3 as the top three batsman were sent packing back to the dressing room after just 3.4 overs. Ramesh Mendis, who impressed with the ball for SSC stepped up with a fine half century to bring the game back into balance.
Ramesh Mendis was stranded on one side as SSC continued to slump with regular wickets going down and were eventually bowled out for 132 in the last ball of the match to hand Army a 26 run win and claim the Under23 Twenty20 crown.
Nirmal Fernando, Nalin Perera and Dilshan De Soyza all picked two wickets each as they stuck to their guns with the ball to seal a remarkable win for Army.
Brief Scores:
Army – 158 for 8 in 20 overs. (Dilshan de Soyza 34, Leo Francisco 32, Ramesh Mendis 3/18, T Wijesooriya 2/33)
SSC – 132 all out in 20 overs. (Ramesh Mendis 58, Tharindu Rathnayake 20, Nalin Perera 2/21, Nirmal Fernando 2/20, Dilshan de Soyza 2/27)
