The semi-finals of the 25th Singer- MCA Premier Knock-Out Tournament 2018 were worked off in Colombo today (25). LB Finance toppled the defending champions MAS Unichela while Teejay Lanka defeated runners up from last year, Commercial Credit.
MAS Unichela vs LB Finance
MAS Unichela were bowled out for 201 after they were sent in, with spinners Rajeewa Weerasinghe and Angelo Perera sharing 6 wickets among them at the MCA grounds. Chamara Silva was the only batsman to go past the 50 run mark as the defending champions, MAS Unichela were bowled out in the 49th over of their innings.
The LB Finance run chase was going in the wrong direction when they were restricted to 167/9. But a brilliant last wicket stand of 34 between Shiran Fernando and Rajeewa Weerasinghe got them 1 run away from victory before a controversial mankad incident ended their innings with the scores tied.
A super over had to be played to decide the winners as LB Fianance crawled just 5 runs of the first 5 deliveries before Kusal Mendis struck a vital six off the final delivery. Sahan Arachchige held his nerve in the super over against some big names , as two run outs ended the MAS Unichela campaign with LB Finance securing a dramatic 9 run win.
MAS Unichela – 201 all out (48.2 overs) Chamara Silva 55, Niroshan Dickwella 28, Angelo Perera 3/42, Rajeewa Weerasinghe 3/49, Shiran Fernando 2/38
LB Finance – 201 all out (49.5 overs) Priyamal Perera 46, Charith Sudaraka 45, Duvindu Tillekaratne 3/33, Dilruwan Perera 2/27, Ishara Amarasinghe 2/36, Sahan Nanayakkara 2/62
Result – LB Finance won the super over by 9 runs.
Teejay Lanka vs Commercial Credit
Teejay Lanka went through a few nervy moments in their run chase before a counter attacking half century by Shalika Karunanayake guided them to a four wicket win over Commercial Credit at the NCC grounds in Colombo.
Teejay Lanka won the toss and sent their opponents into bat before the decision initially backfired when Dilhan Cooray and Akeel Inham put on a half century stand for the first wicket. The leading Test bowler for Sri Lanka in 2015, Dhammika Prasad, who had a long injury lay off, got the vital break through as Commercial Credit lost 10/78 from being 0/78.
Left arm tweaker Chalana De Silva produced a brilliant spell capturing 3/20 in his quota of 10 overs, while Sri Lanka’s shorter format specialist Lasith Malinga, who was left out of the Pakistan ODIs, picked up two wickets.
While Karunanayake remained unbeaten on 60*, Sachithra Senanayake added much need impetus to the Teejay Lanka innings with a quick-fire 36 as they registered a remarkable win to book their place in the final.
Commercial Credit – 156 all out (45.5 overs) Akeel Inham 38, Jehan Mubarak 32, Dilhan Cooray 25, Chalana De Silva 3/20, Lasith Malinga 2/19, Sachithra Senanayake 2/36
Teejay Lanka – 161/6 (33 overs) Sachithra Senanayake 36, Shalika Karunanyake 60*, Chalana De Silva 25*, Lahiru Madushanka 2/39, S Salinda 2/18, P Wijesena 2/20
Result – Commercial Credit won by 4 wickets.
The final is scheduled for the 29th of October between LB Finance and Teejay Lanka. Catch all the live ball by ball action on Dialog TV channel no. 1, MyTV and thepapare.com
. LB Finance toppled the defending champions MAS Unichela while Teejay Lanka defeated runners up from last year, Commercial Credit.){kind=link}